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Ukraine has used U.S.-made cluster-bomb-tipped rockets from the ATACMS system for the first time, it is claimed, with the weapon said to have taken out nine Russian helicopters while they were still on the ground. Ukraine claims to have taken out nine helicopters and associated support equipment on the ground in a series of coordinated strikes against Russian-occupied airfields overnight. Per a statement from the Ukrainian government the strikes in the early hours of Tuesday morning were against airfields in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine including Berdiansk and Luhansk and as well as the nine military helicopters Ukraine says ammunition stores...

A militant Islamist leader whose forces have just conquered two-thirds of the West African state of Mali vows to launch holy war against the West. Omar Ould Hamaha, the military commander of Ansar Dine, or "Defenders of the Faith", which has scored a stunning victory in Mali against the failed state's armed forces, now controls a region larger than France which includes three paved runways that could be used to fly in weapons or drugs. He said: "Even if they (western forces) don't come here, when we have finished conquering France, we will come to the USA, we will come...

FORT HUACHUCA — Residents of the fort, Sierra Vista and Huachuca City may see and hear a variety of aircraft conducting exercises in Fort Huachuca airspace Friday and Saturday night, a fort spokeswoman said. Friday night, Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma will conduct a mock assault of Libby Army Airfield on the post with CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters, MV-22 Ospreys and a C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Missouri Air National Guard, according to post spokeswoman Tanja Linton. The CH-53s and MV-22s will then lift off and conduct a similar mock assault at Hubbard Air Strip on the East...

After looking for a decade to buy a dark place in the country to practice landings of its noisiest aircraft, the Navy has decided to look at renting airport space for quieter aircraft landing practice and to keep the big jets working at home. Navy Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., announced Friday that it will survey public and private airfields within 90 nautical miles of Norfolk Naval air station for interest in renting landing strip time for its turboprop planes to practice. The Navy has not abandoned its search for an outlying landing field, said Ted Brown, spokesman for...

Snow removal a specialty of award-winning airfield. the Little Airport That Could. Centennial is an astonishing seven-time winner (plus one honorable mention) of a national snow-removal award for large general aviation airfields. That achievement gives it high-flying popularity among corporate-jetting executives who want to get where they're going quickly - and safely. "We're clearly the airport of choice... "Our crews know how to remove snow." For the record: Along with most area airports, Centennial was shut down last week for about 27 hours... What's the secret to Centennial's snow-sweeping success? "Long before the snow starts to fly out here, they...

Coalition Forces handing out toys BAQUBAH, Iraq – Soldiers from Task Force 1-10 handed out donated toys and stuffed animals August 31 to the children that live around the mayor’s office here. The soldiers and the children enjoyed the interaction with one another and the children left with smiles on their faces. Iraqi police basic marksmanship training FORWARD OPERATING BASE Normandy, Iraq – A group of 20 Iraqi police officers gathered to further hone their skills during an intense marksmanship class August 31. Coalition Forces stood by as seven Iraqi instructors trained the police with intense one on one personalized...

Leaders of a six-nation security bloc led by Beijing and Moscow called for a deadline to be set for the withdrawal of US forces from bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The presidents of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which comprises Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and China, signed a declaration calling for deadlines to be set on the closure of airbases used by US forces in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. "Considering that the active phase of the military anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan has finished, member states... consider it essential that the relevant participants in the anti-terrorist coalition set deadlines on...

Tick Tock at Tallil Printable VersionAs the first forward-deployed air base established in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, day-to-day life changes at Tallil Air Base, Iraq, like the shifting sands. Located 180  miles south of Baghdad, there’s adrenaline-pumping excitement sandwiched between days of boredom. The war, although not as intense as it once was, brings with it a sense of purpose and pride.by Tech. Sgt. Orville F. Desjarlais Jr.photos by Master Sgt. Lance CheungPre-dawn: Before the desert sun generates heat levels capable of exploding an aerosol can inside a car where internal temperatures can skyrocket to 150 degrees, members...

US says controlling movement in Iraq western desert AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. special forces are in control of movement across Iraq's western desert, a senior U.S. commander said on Monday. "We are denying freedom of movement throughout the western desert and are being very effective at it," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a news briefing in Qatar. U.S. officials have said two airfields in the western desert were seized by U.S. forces in the early stages of the war. Analysts have said the H2 and H3 airfields -- named after pumping stations on a disused...

TBILISI, March 25 (Itar-Tass) -- The Kopitnari military airfield in southern Georgia is ready for servicing US warplanes, the Georgian president's envoy in the region, Temur Shashiashvili, said. He told reporters on Tuesday that American experts had visited the Kopitnari airfield two times in the recent days to look at its possibilities. However, the US so far has not formally asked Georgia to provide its military airfields. Nevertheless, Georgian authorities said they were prepared for such a development of events