US forces last fall set up a remote airfield inside Syria and have flown 50 C-17 missions as of last week, according to Air Forces Central Command. The remote airfield has also been used for more than 100 C-130 flights to help resupply US special operations forces and allied Syrian fighters in their approach to Raqqa and other ISIS strongholds inside Syria, AFCENT Deputy Commander Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria said at AWS17. The site was just a flat spot of dirt before crews, including Air Force contingency response airmen, arrived to build it up for air operations. It is still being built up, but has become essential for the fight inside Syria, Sylveria said. Without this site, aircraft would have been forced to fly a much greater distance and it would be “much more difficult to get into Syria,” he said.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
