The firefighters of the Illinois Air National Guard’s 183rd Fighter Wing who were supposed to be out of a job when the wing gave up its F-16s last fall but received a one-year reprieve to stay through September are now on another one-year extension, reports the State Journal-Register. The news came from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) who reportedly got the word from Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, ANG director. Since losing its F-16s, the wing picked up the job of repairing F-16 engines, but the state is still actively seeking a new flying mission. Per the SJR, Durbin said the extension is “welcome news, as these highly skilled firefighters are critical to Springfield’s ability to handle an emergency.”
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
