The Defense Department on Tuesday identified two airmen killed in an Oct. 11 crash of a British Puma Mk2 helicopter in Kabul, Afghanistan. They are: Maj. Phyllis J. Pelky, 45, of Rio Rancho, N.M. and MSgt. Gregory T. Kuhse, 38, of Kalamazoo, Mich. Pelkey was assigned to the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Kuhse was assigned to the 3rd Manpower Requirements Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill. The two were killed, along with two Royal Air Force officers and a French contractor, when their helicopter was landing at the headquarters of NATO’s training and support mission, according to the BBC. The cause of ?the crash is under investigation. It was the second fatal crash in October in Afghanistan for the Air Force, after six airmen were killed when their C-130 crashed at Jalalabad Airfield.
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.
