The Air Force’s 33rd Rescue Squadron at Kadena AB, Japan, rescued a Marine pilot Thursday after he safely ejected from the AV-8B he was flying in off the coast of Okinawa. The Harrier, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit at Okinawa, appears to have crashed 100 nautical miles off the coast of the Japanese island at 2? p.m. local time, the III Marine Expeditionary Force announced on Facebook. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.