The new Sniper XR targeting pod, used first on fighters, will soon go on bombers, too. The B-1 Systems Group at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, are engaged in adapting the B-1B so it, too, can use the Sniper. The big advantage: It provides positive identification capability. The current radar system that was used to hunt Scuds in Iraq did not provide sufficiently clear resolution. The B-1B pilots had to call on fighters to ID the target. Full integration is projected for FY 2009.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.