Illinois and Missouri took new legal moves last Thursday to stop the BRAC actions that would divest each state of its Air National Guard fighter aircraft. Missouri filed a preliminary injunction to protect the 131st Fighter Wing’s F-15s at Lambert Field in St. Louis. Illinois officials requested a restraining order to prohibit the BRAC commission from delivering its final recommendations to President Bush. (They are due Sept. 8.) The commission voted to remove the 183rd Fighter Wing’s F-16s, stationed in Springfield, Ill. A hearing in the Missouri case was slated for Tuesday.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.