There’s been some shifting of members on and new members added to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) switched from chairman of the strategic forces panel to chairman of the emerging threats and capabilities panel. Replacing him on strategic forces is Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who turned over chairmanship duties for the personnel panel to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). New committee member Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) is now ranking member of the emerging threats panel. The former leaders of emerging threats, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman, and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member, have taken the leadership positions on the seapower panel. (Committee release)
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
