Fielding a new uniform earlier this year for airmen in Afghanistan demonstrates the Air Force’s ability to react quickly to support its deployed forces, said Lt. Gen. Loren Reno, deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations, and mission support. “This is an example of the way that we rapidly respond to requirements that have come from the theater,” Reno told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s readiness and management support panel last week. The Air Force developed the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern Uniform in concert with the Army. It is designed to “give better camouflage protection outside the wire, the terrain in Afghanistan being different than it is in Iraq and other places,” explained Reno. He added, “It is a lighter weight uniform.” Air Force officials have said the uniform will eventually become in-theater standard issue for all USAF personnel. (Reno’s prepared remarks)
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
