The Air Force has not found the pilot of the F-16 that crashed in Iraq early Monday morning. An official statement did confirm that insurgents were in the vicinity at the time of the crash. Coalition ground forces had to wait for combat operations in the area to stop before they were able to secure the crash site. Various news reports indicate that the aircraft was assigned to Cannon AFB, N.M., but base officials say all Cannon pilots deployed to Southwest Asia are accounted for.
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.