The first AIM-9 Sidewinder heat seeking air to air missile launched from an USAF aircraft is fired by Capt. Joe Gordon, flying a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Sidewinder, originally developed by the Navy in 1953 but modernized regularly since, will still be both services’ primary short range missile until well after the turn of the century.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
