F-35s have returned to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, for two weeks of training in a deployed setting. The F-35s, assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz., arrived at the Idaho base on Sept. 10 and will “practice identifying ground radar sites, which is a capability that Luke doesn’t have,” 366th Fighter Wing spokesman TSgt. Joe Woolston told Air Force Magazine. The aircraft will return to Luke on Sept. 24. Mountain Home was the site for the major deployment test for F-35s, when seven of the jets deployed from Hill AFB, Utah, to the Idaho base for two weeks in June to prove the aircraft can fight in a deployment setting.
The Space Force is preparing to award billions of dollars in launch contracts by the end of this year—provided Congress passes a budget. By the end of 2024, Space Systems Command wants to award a contract for the next phase of its National Security Space Launch program. It also wants…