US Strategic Command has taken command and control responsibility for the Wideband Global SATCOM-2, the second new communications satellite that USAF placed in orbit in early April. Air Force Space Command’s 3rd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., will continue day-to-day support for WGS-2, under the operational control of the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The 3rd SOPS, part of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever, took control of the Boeing-built satellite on Aug. 18 from the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., which had picked up WGS-2 from Boeing on June 15 after on-orbit and ground system checkouts. Boeing is building one more Block 1 WGS and three Block 2 versions. The WGS series are the first to provide Ka-band communications for operations in Southwest Asia. (SMC release; Schriever release)
In a dramatic flare-up in the hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, American forces struck and destroyed five Iranian oil tankers Sept. 8, U.S. Central Command said. Iran retaliated by lobbing ballistic missiles toward a major U.S. base in Jordan, according to Iranian state media.
