In Afghanistan May 13, an F-15E dropped a 2,000-pound joint direct attack munition and a 500-pound JDAM onto enemy positions in Zormat, successfully destroying the targets, Air Forces Central said in a May 14 release. And an F-15E dropped a 500-pound laser-guided bomb onto disabled coalition ground vehicles in the vicinity of Qalag to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. In Iraq, an F-16 hit enemy targets in the vicinity of Al Amarah with 500-pound JDAMs, and an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle struck enemy combatants in Baghdad with a Hellfire missile, AFCENT said.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.