Air Force Special Operations Command’s AC-130W Stinger II gunships will be upgraded with Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, contractor Elbit Systems announced. “The JHMCS II system features the most innovative head-tracking technologies available, giving pilots increased situational awareness no matter what direction he or she is looking,” company president and CEO Raanan Horowitz said in a May 19 release. JHMCS “gives pilots immediate and accurate recognition of friendly, threat, and unknown targets,” he added. Both the F-15 and F-16 fleets are equipped with JHMCS, but the Stinger II gunships will be the first large mobility-type aircraft equipped with the system, according to the company. Elbit Systems of America will upgrade AFSOC’s 12-strong AC-130W fleet as part of a joint effort with Rockwell Collins over the next two years, the release states. The precision strike package-equipped Stinger II variant is armed with ?guided munitions, including the Griffin missile and Small Diameter Bomb.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.