Air Force officials on Oct. 26 formally turned over a new a suite of navigational aids installed at Kirkuk AB, Iraq, to the Iraqi air force. This state-of-the-art digital airport surveillance system, which replaces aging and often-malfunctioning equipment at Kirkuk, was procured and installed over a two-year period through a first-of-its-kind foreign military sales effort. “Our governments, air forces, and civilian contractors cooperated not only to fund the purchase of this highly technical equipment, but to train the Iraqi Air Force personnel how to use it and maintain it,” said Maj. Gen. Robert Kane, director of the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission-Air Force. Similar upgrade efforts are underway at IqAF installations, including Taji Air Base and Al Kut Air Base. (Hanscom report by Chuck Paone)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.