USAF F-15E Strike Eagles and Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets in separate actions in Afghanistan last week flew close air support missions, aiding coalition ground forces near Dowlet Shah and Now Zad, according to Central Command Air Forces. One F-15E successfully bombed enemy forces moving along a ridge trail near Dowlet Shah, using a GBU-12 laser guided bomb. Another F-15E struck a hilltop enemy mortar position near Now Zad, while two F/A-18s used GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions on two other enemy mortar firing positions near the same village. Another F/A-18, also firing a GBU-38 JDAM, scored a direct hit on an enemy building near Sangin.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
