Ingenuity was the necessary ingredient when the Army asked USAF to test whether a C-5 airlifter could transport the Army’s helicopter flight simulator—all 49,000 pounds and 53 feet of it, twice. The trainer system comprises two 18-wheel-truck trailers with six simulated helo cockpits and other workstations. Airmen of the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, Dover AFB, Del., constructed a special ramp to get the trailer aboard a C-5. It worked. That means the Army doesn’t have to rely on a six- to eight-week shipment by ship to get the simulators in the hands of soldiers worldwide. Army officials say helicopter crews in Southwest Asia can use it to practice urban operations with its database of locations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Army project manager Donald Philpitt says using the Air Force C-5 will save the Army a “logistical nightmare.”
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
