US Navy ships at 8:40 p.m. EDT Thursday fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria, targeting the airfield that launched Tuesday’s gas attack. The missiles hit the Shayrat airbase in Homs province, targeting aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply, bunkers, air defense systems, and radars, in an attempt to damage Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s air force and his ability to target rebels following the gas attack. The strike originated from the USS Porter and USS Ross off the coast of Syria in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. President Trump said late Thursday the strike is in response to the “horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. … Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children.” Trump said in brief remarks at Mar-a-Lago, Fla., late Thursday, “It is in this vital national security interest of the US to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” Syrian state media in response to the attack called it an act of “aggression,” according to The Associated Press. Russian troops were reportedly stationed at the base before the strike. The US informed Russia about the strike beforehand to avoid Russian casualties. The Pentagon late Thursday was assessing the results of the strike. “The strike was a proportional response to Assad’s heinous act,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement. Shayrat Airfield was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian air forces. … The strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again.”
Colorado Springs, Colo.—The Air Force is confident it will eventually employ reusable rockets for national security space missions, Gen. Jay Raymond said Thursday at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. “I would be comfortable with flying with a...
Colorado Springs, Colo.—Despite losing out to SpaceX in the most recent competition to launch the third GPS III satellite, United Launch Alliance’s president and CEO Tory Bruno is optimistic about winning future launch contracts. “The way those first two GPS...
US Strategic Command announced Wednesday it is forming a new Multinational Space Collaboration at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The effort will provide “a framework for combined operations in space among the Five Eye allies”—the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and...
The Air Force is “nearly finished” with the first phase of the Homeland Defense Design effort, which looks to better protect against cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft by installing Active Electronically Scanned Array radars on F-16s protecting the National Capital...
Air Force Col. Todd Canterbury has been nominated to take over the F-35 Integration Office at the Pentagon. Canterbury, currently the chief of the operations division at the F-35 Integration Office, would receive the rank of brigadier general if confirmed....
Colorado Springs, Colo.—The Air Force’s light attack aircraft experiment scheduled for this summer at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will be about clarifying capabilities, not selecting sources, Air Force Materiel Command boss Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski said at a press briefing at the...
JB Langley-Eustis, Va., later this month will be the home for the largest trilateral exercise so far that features fourth and fifth generation fighters. USAF F-22s and F-35s, will fly with United Kingdom Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons, and French...
Two C-130Js and airmen from the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Ark., landed in Lima, Peru earlier this week to help respond to flooding and landslides that has killed more than 100 people and left over 150,000 people...