More than 190 airmen will represent the US during SALITRE II, a Chilean air force-led coalition exercise that starts Saturday and runs through Nov. 2 in Antofagasta and Iquique, Chile. Accompanying them will be six Louisiana Air National Guard F-15Cs, two HC-130s from Moody AFB, Ga., and two Arizona Air National Guard KC-135s. Training activities will include search and rescue, aerial refueling, high-altitude airfield landings, and combined air operations center execution. Airmen and aircraft from Argentina, Brazil, and France will also participate. “We’re training together so we can respond to a crisis or integrate into United Nations peacekeeping operations as a unified team in the future,” said Col. Bryan Bearden, director of operations for 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) The USAF airmen will also take part in a series of community outreach events. (Davis-Monthan report by TSgt. Eric Petosky)
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.