A B-52 and B-1B bombers, accompanied by a KC-10 tanker, land at Poltava Air Base, Ukraine, marking the first time since World War II that US bombers have landed in that country. B-17 bombers had flown there 50 years earlier on shuttle bombing missions against Nazi targets in eastern Europe.
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.