Raytheon has received a $38 million contract to modify GBU-15/AGM-130 weapons data link equipment used in USAF F-15 pilot training as part of a 2007 contract following reallocation of radio frequencies from the military to commercial users. n The first GPS IIF satellite on Feb. 12 traveled via C-17 from the Boeing facility in El Segundo, Calif., to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., where it will undergo testing in preparation for launch this summer. n Pacific Air Forces announced new Patriot Express routes would begin in April, including new weekly flights from Seattle, Wash., to Yokota AB, Japan, and Osan AB and Kunsan AB in South Korea, and then back through Osan and Yokota before heading back to Seattle; some existing routes now include additional stops. n The Army’s First Combat Brigade team has presented units patches to USAF explosive ordnance disposal airmen who supported them in Iraq.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
