By
Theresa Hitchens on March 31, 2021 at 6:37 PM
A KC-46 refuels an F-35
WASHINGTON: Tankers and cargo aircraft could in future carry their own counter-air missiles or even launch missile-carrying drones to help them survive ever-more sophisticated enemy air defenses, Air Mobility Command head Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost says.
“We have hardpoints on the C-17; we have hardpoints on the KC-46. It’s not a hard stretch to think that we could put one or two missiles on there for self defense,” she told the Mitchell Institute today.
Van Ovost is keen on pushing creative ideas, including the use of “attritables” such as missiles and drones, to ensure the survivability of the air mobility fleet in future warfare with Russia and China recognizing that large, lumbering tankers and cargo jets make relatively easy and high value targets.
Last Maine National Guard soldiers return from DC
March 15, 2021
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BANGOR, Maine (AP) All of the Maine National Guard soldiers sent to Washington after rioters stormed the Capitol building have returned home from the deployment, officials said Monday.
The soldiers who returned Sunday were part of a second wave of troops sent to Washington after most of the first wave of about 200 soldiers returned to Maine in late January.
“Seventy-six soldiers from eight different units around the state joined 20-plus states on this unprecedented mission, and they are eager to return to their families and friends, said Capt. Garrett Clark, commander of Waterville’s 488th Military Police Company.
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Russian Su-27 Jets Intercept French Mirage-2000s over Black Sea Our Bureau 1806
Su-27 fighter jet.
A pair of Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted two Mirage-2000s and a KC-135 tanker operated by the French Air Force over Black Sea Wednesday.
In a statement, the Russian National Defense Control Center said that the Russian jets carried out the operation in strict accordance with international rules. “After the turn of foreign military aircraft from the state border of the Russian Federation, the Russian fighters returned safely to the airfield.”
The French jets were flying over neutral waters of the Black Sea.
“To prevent violation of the state border of the Russian Federation, two Su-27 fighters from the air defense officers of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Southern Military District were taken into the air. Violations of the state border of the Russian Federation were not allowed, the statement read.