RAF Lakenheath, Britain, has become the first Air Force installation in Europe to receive the Digital Airport Surveillance Radar, a new radar system for air traffic control. It was also the first to install new air traffic control consoles dubbed Standard Terminal Automation Replacement Systems. “This improvement is about safety and will make our ability to go to war safer and more reliable,” said Col. John Quintas, commander of Lakenheath’s 48th Fighter Wing. DASR replaces the Generalized Proportional Navigation system previously used to track aircraft and weather conditions. The STARS consoles supplant the Automated Radar Terminal Systems in Lakenheath’s radar approach control facility. MSgt. Klane Pierce, 48th Operations Squadron assistant chief controller, said the new equipment allows the controllers to see “smaller aircraft and gliders that in the past may have not been detected.” DASR and STARS became operational Nov. 18. (Lakenheath report by SrA. David Dobrydney)
F-15E Aviator Missing in Iran Rescued by US Forces
April 5, 2026
The second crew member of the F-15E shot down April 3 has been rescued from Iran. U.S. forces recovered the aviator alive and all American forces involved in the operation are believed to be safe, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.