Coalition strike aircraft flew 42 close air support missions in Afghanistan on July 16 and an equal number of sorties in Iraq on that day, Air Forces Central said in a release. In Afghanistan, a B-1B bomber dropped 500-pound joint direct attack munitions and one 2,000-pound JDAM on enemy combatants near Sangin. And in the vicinity of Nangalam, an F-15E attacked enemy forces with 500-pound JDAMs.
Senior U.S. military officials involved in restructuring the troubled LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program now project confidence that it will achieve operational capability in the early 2030s.