Pacific Air Forces now is slated to get the first of eight new C-17 airlifters in early February and officials tell the Honolulu Advertiser that it will immediately go to work for training flights and maintenance familiarization. After the first arrives, USAF plans to send the other C-17s to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, in three-week intervals. Planning for the new mission has been underway for more than a year by a combined force of active and Air National Guard airmen.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.