Two B-52s arrived in the Middle East on April 23 as part of an increase in airpower to protect U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan as part of the withdrawal in the country. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III approved the deployment of the bombers and the extension of the deployment of the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier to be able to conduct possible airstrikes in Afghanistan if needed. The bombers are from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and the first two touched down at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, the evening of April 23.

Air Force Global Strike Command on April 20 ordered a safety stand-down of its B-1B Lancer fleet to inspect fuel system problems following an April 8 ground emergency. After the emergency at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., inspectors found a “discrepancy” with the B-1’s Augmenter Fuel Pump Filter Housing. As a “precautionary measure,” AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray directed inspections on all B-1s to resolve the issue, AFGSC said in a statement. “After further analysis, the commander stood down the fleet because it was determined a more invasive inspection was needed to ensure the safety of aircrews,” the command said.

In the summer of 2019, the 18th Maintenance Group at Kadena Air Base, Japan, was struggling to produce just a light day of sorties. Just 16 months later, the unit pulled off a “super surge,” putting up 436 sorties in three and a half days—the equivalent of more than a month’s worth of flying, condensed into less than a week, said Capt. David Barton, operations officer for 18th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. “It was considered an unsolvable problem,” 18th MXG Commander Col. William F. Ray explained. Now, with the same aging fleet, modifications, and other issues, “we’re putting up the most [F-15C/D] sorties in the Air Force.” The key to their success: The theory of constraints.

Engine-maker Rolls-Royce is teaming up with Purdue and Carnegie Mellon universities to develop cyber tools and protection for its sophisticated aircraft engines, the company announced April 22. Initial projects include an effort to use artificial intelligence to detect cyber intrusions in the embedded computers that control jet engines. Rolls-Royce will fund two or three projects a year through its new Cybersecurity Technology Research Network, choosing proposals submitted from academics at the two partner institutions, said S. Michael Gahn, the chief of technology for Rolls-Royce’s Product Cyber.