Two Pave Hawks flying too closely together, along with a pilot over correcting, caused an HH-60 to crash during night training Aug. 18, 2016, near Nellis AFB, Nev. Two helicopters were flying a night tactical formation mission at the Nevada Test and Training Range as part of a large force exercise when the mishap occurred. The two helicopters began to converge due to mountainous terrain, when an aircraft gunner noticed and called for the pilot to turn away. The pilot then made a 70-degree banked turn, which was too steep for the helicopter, and it could no longer maintain altitude, according to an Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board report on the crash. The helicopter was already flying low and the pilot could not recover, causing it to crash into the ground. The Pave Hawk rolled, which injured the crew. They were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Pave Hawk was totally destroyed at a loss of about $21.4 million.
The Space Force is finalizing its first contracts for the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve and plans to award them early in 2025—giving the service access to commercial satellites and other space systems in times of conflict or crisis—officials said Nov. 21.