Free Republic

The U.S. military destroyed a cruise missile and a short-range ballistic missile during a test Thursday over the Pacific, the first time two test targets were intercepted simultaneously, the Missile Defense Agency said. The military fired the short-range missile from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. A Navy plane fired the cruise missile target used in the test. Sailors aboard the USS Lake Erie fired back. "The test demonstrated the USS Lake Erie's ability to engage a ballistic missile threat and defend itself from attack at the same time," the agency said in a statement. A similar attempt failed...

3/5/2007 - Andersen Air Force Base, Guam (AFNEWS) -- The low rumble of B-52s shook the normally quiet evening sky above Andersen Air Force Base as the Stratofortresses of the 36th Operations Group participated in Pacific Command's Koa Lightning exercise over the islands of Hawaii. For the men and women of the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, the exercise tested their endurance as well as their airmanship. The trip from Guam to the exercise area and back often exceeded 18 hours of continuous flight and required two air refuelings for the 6,880-nautical mile journey. After an eight-hour flight to the exercise...