The Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations Network has grown to 25 nodes, recently reaching Spangdahlem AB, Germany and Kadena AB, Japan, and will expand to Misawa AB, Japan, by year’s end. So states Telecommunications firm Global Crossing and Northrop Grumman. The companies began running the fiber optic backbone and broadband connections at USAF facilities in 2001. DMON is the system that, for instance, lets F-15 fighter pilots and E-3 AWACS crews at different locations train as if they were flying together. See our story on this here.
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…