A test team led by the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., performed the first test drop of the new Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition by an A-10 Warthog earlier this month, according to a Nov. 14 Eglin release. “The test was very successful,” said Capt. Kirk Cassell, lead A-10C flight test engineer. The Air Force tested use of the Boeing-built LJDAM with a B-52 bomber earlier this fall, and the service employed the new munition, introduced in the Air Force inventory just this year, in combat for the first time on Aug. 12 when an F-16 fired it against a moving target in Iraq. The test team had to work faster than normal, said Cassell, because Air Combat Command wanted to add the LJDAM to the A-10C for an upcoming deployment. The pilot on the test flight, Maj. Matthew Domsalla, who has flown Hogs for eight years, noted that the LJDAM enables the pilot to “update the targeting if the target moves while the weapon is in flight.” (Eglin report by MSgt. Joy Josephson)
One Airman was killed and three others injured in a vehicle mishap at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., on June 29. Additionally, two first responder Airmen sustained injuries responding to the incident. All five injured Airmen have been transported to nearby medical facilities, according to a release from the base.