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.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.