Boeing announced Wednesday that has shipped the third Air Force Wideband Global Satcom spacecraft from the company’s assembly facility in Los Angeles to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., in preparation for the satellite’s launch into space next month. “This is another great milestone for the WGS team, which is performing superbly and setting the standards for getting these critical communications assets into space and into operational use,” said Brig. Gen. Samuel Greaves, vice commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. Boeing has said WGS-3 is slated for placement in orbit over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It will join WGS-1 and WGS-2 that have been operational since April 2008 and August 2009, respectively. WGS-1 supports the US military in the Pacific. WGS-2, perched above the Indian Ocean, assists warfighters in the Middle East and Central Asia. (For more on WGS, read Communications Difference.)
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.