A permanent fix is being distributed to resolve the software glitch that left some military equipment unable to lock onto Global Positioning System navigation signals after the Air Force updated GPS ground control software back in January. The Associated Press reported Monday (via the Los Angeles Times) that a temporary fix had already been installed in these GPS receivers and now the permanent fix is being instituted. It cited an Air Force spokesman. Air Force Space Command boss Gen. Robert Kehler acknowledged in February that “a handful” of receivers across the US military did not function properly after the upgrade due to a problem with the receivers—not the ground control software. According to AP, this issue had caused the Navy to temporarily halt operations on one of its remotely piloted aircraft program as a precaution. (See also AP’s May 14 report via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.)
B-52 Stratofortress bombers marked a new first in Operation Epic Fury when some of the BUFFs flew over Iran carrying JDAM-guided gravity bombs, according to people familiar with the matter. The development signals a weakening of Iranian air defenses and a new use for the venerable bomber in the nearly…