The Manas Air Base in Kirghizstan is turning into NATO's home away from home. The French have six Mirage-2000Ds and four tankers there. The Australians have four tankers, and five C-130s from four European nations are also based there. Spain has sent two helicopters to provide search-and-rescue for aircraft that don't make it all the way back to base, and the US Marines just sent six FA-18s there. Norway and Italy plan to deploy combat aircraft there within a month. The base is used to support military operations in Afghanistan.--Stephen V Cole

The Russian Military News Agency reported that an incident occurred at Dushanbe airport on 27 April between U.S. servicemen and the airport staff. The conflict was caused when U.S. Air Force representatives banned the stationing of Russian and Tajik airplanes on parking stands allocated to U.S planes. Details of the incident were not disclosed. - Adam Geibel