A pair of New York Air National Guard LC-130 ski-equipped transports supported Operation Nunalivut, a Canadian Arctic exercise, for the second consecutive year, announced Air Guard officials. In light of Russian belligerence toward NATO and increased military activity in the Arctic, “we feel that these exercises are ever-more important to exert our sovereignty and our ability to respond,” said Canadian associate defense minister Julian Fantino in a report by the Canadian Nunatsiaq News. “We’re looking to continue standing up against any threat to our sovereignty and stand ready at any moment to defend our people, land, and interests,” he added. The LC-130s are practicing operating from ice runways and working with the Canadian forces during the exercise, which concludes on April 22. Approximately 200 Canadian troops and 30 US airmen from the 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton ANGB, N.Y., are taking part in the exercise.
An Air Force F-16 pilot designed a collapsible ladder that weighs just six pounds and folds into the unused cockpit map case.