Nangalam, Afghanistan, was a central point of coalition airstrikes July 13, Air Forces Central said in a release July 14. Nangalam, in the Kunar region in northeastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border was the site of a failed attack by a large group of enemy combatants to overrun a coalition combat outpost. The attack left nine US soldiers dead. Helping to repel the enemy, a B-1B bomber dropped 500-pound and 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions, while A-10s hit the enemy combatants with cannon rounds, 500-pound laser-guided bombs, and one general-purpose 500-pound bomb. Additionally, an MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle fired a Hellfire missile at them. In total, coalition air flew 60 close air support missions in Afghanistan on that day and 46 in Iraq, AFCENT said.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
