The third of five new F-15E Strike Eagle Mission Training Centers has opened at RAF Lakenheath, England, according to an April 22 Boeing release. The company is under contract for the five new centers that offer Strike Eagle crews advanced simulator-based training capability that can be linked to other simulators locally. Next year, the Lakenheath MTC also will be linked to the Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations training network. The other twoin-operation MTCs are located at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., and Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.