The 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M., welcomed its second new-build MC-130J Combat Shadow II aircraft. Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training Command, accepted delivery of aircraft No. 5682 for the training unit on Tuesday. He called it “an honor” to accept the newest member of Kirtland’s fleet. The MC-130J came to Kirtland from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Marietta, Ga. The Air Force is procuring a fleet of MC-130Js to replace its older MC-130 special-mission aircraft. (Lockheed Martin release)
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
