Members of the 4th Special Operations Squadron last month conducted the final flight of the AC-130H gunship Wicked Wanda at Hurlburt Field Fla., before its retirement, according to a base release. This airframe, tail number 6575, served 43 years, participating in nearly every conflict that United States has been in since the end of the Vietnam War, states the release. “[Wicked Wanda] was my aircraft during the Iran hostage crisis,” said retired CMSgt. Bill Walter, a former aerial gunner. “She had a real good combat history, I’m actually happy to see her retire honorably,” he said. The aircraft’s final flight from Hurlburt took place on Dec. 19. After its official retirement this year, Wicked Wanda will go in display at Hurlburt’s air park, according to the Dec. 29 release.
The Defense Innovation Unit is gearing up for the first flight of its commercially developed hypersonic testbed as soon as the end of February—part of a larger project to quickly increase the cadence of the Pentagon’s hypersonic flight testing and field advanced, high-speed systems and components at scale.
