A US service member was killed in an improvised explosive device blast on Tuesday while on patrol in eastern Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced. There were no other casualties in the blast in the Nangarhar province, Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook said during a Tuesday briefing. The service member was conducting operations with Afghan forces as part of an overall counterterrorism mission against ISIS, according to an Operation Resolute Support statement. The name and specific service has not been released.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.