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)
Seven F-22 Raptor pilots have recently been awarded one of the military’s highest decorations for their actions during operations in the Middle East. Six of the pilots were decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.