B-52H bombers currently stationed at Andersen AFB, Guam, completed 10 sorties to Australian training ranges and executed practice bomb runs while participating in Talisman Saber 2009, a US-Australian military exercise, earlier this month. “Our purpose was to demonstrate what we can do with the B-52,” said Capt. Sean Stavely, B-52 aircraft commander with the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron. This unit comprises elements of the 96th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La., that have been deployed on a rotation to Guam since the end of May as part of the continual US bomber presence there. The sorties consisted of 12-hour flights from Guam to Australia where the bombers worked with other US and Australian forces. Overall, the bombers tallied more than 110 flight hours. Said Stavely: “Taking off from Guam, going somewhere a long distance away, putting our bombs on target, and then coming back to the base that we came from” is a clear demonstration of the bombers’ capability. (Andersen report by SSgt. Jennifer Redente)
For the Space Force and the U.S. writ large, the mission of position, navigation, and timing has become synonymous with three letters: GPS. That is likely to change in the coming years, as service officials described plans this week for a whole host of alternative systems, or alt-PNT.