The Department of Defense has identified the remains of US Army Air Forces pilot 2nd Lt. Arthur F. Eastman, of East Orange, N.J., whose aircraft went missing during a training flight in August 1944 in New Guinea, according to a March 24 release. Eastman departed Finschhafen, New Guinea, Aug. 18, 1944, on a test flight of his F-5E-2 aircraft, but never returned. Based on documents found in Australian archives, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command officials investigated a crash site in 2004 in the mountains of Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The site was subsequently excavated in 2007, leading to the recovery of remains and personal effects that led to Eastman’s identification.
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.