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the direction of US Northern Command, six specially equipped Air Force C-130s remain heavily engaged in fighting wildfires in Texas and Mexico’s Coahuila state. Two Air Force Reserve Command C-130s from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo., joined the fray first, reinforced later by four Air National Guard tankers. The Air Guard C-130s, from units in California, North Carolina, and Wyoming, are tasked with battling the Texas fires, while the Reserve assets are primarily supporting efforts in Mexico. According to NORTHCOM data compiled through Tuesday, the Hercules sextet had flown 60 sorties, dropping a total of 153,000 gallons of retardant—90,000 gallons in Texas and 63,000 gallons in Mexico. The Air Guard platforms are flying from Dyess Air Force Base, near Abilene, Tex., while the Reserve aircraft stage from Laughlin Air Force Base, west of San Antonio near the Mexican border. (Peterson report) (Laughlin report) (NGB report)
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…