The Air Force on Thursday identified the three special operations airmen killed in Wednesday’s U-28A crash near Cannon AFB, N.M. Capt. Andrew Becker, 33, was a pilot for the 318th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon. Becker was from Novi, Mich., and is survived by his spouse, mother, and father. Capt. Kenneth Dalga, 29, was a combat systems officer for the 318th Special Operations Squadron. Dalga was from Goldsboro, N.C., and is survived by his son, spouse, and mother. First Lt. Frederick Dellecker, 26, was a co-pilot assigned to the 318th SOS. He was from Daytona Beach, Fla., and is survived by his mother and father. The three airmen were killed when their U-28A reconnaissance aircraft crashed during a routine training flight near Clovis Municipal Airport. The Air Force is investigating the crash. “Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of those involved in this tragic accident,” 27th Special Operations Wing Commander Col. Ben Maitre said in a statement. “In doing so, our focus is to also support our larger Air Commando community as we prioritize safe mission accomplishment in both our training and operational commitments.”
The long-standing method for communicating data down from space via radio frequencies has the potential to create deadly data bottlenecks that could slow and stymie future operations, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. The report makes the case for combining RF with optical communications…