There’s something odd about the Air Force’s just released 2008 unfunded priority list and its two latest supplemental funding requests—they duplicate requests for some aircraft. Air Force spokesperson Maj. Dayan Araujo confirmed yesterday that the UPL and the 2007 spring supplemental and 2008 global war on terror supplemental include requests for the same 20 C-130Js. Araujo explained in response to query that USAF “used the UPL to re-emphasize this high priority need to Congress.” She went on to say the same applies to five CV-22s that are found in the UPL and 2008 supplemental. Again, it was a case of “reinforcing the urgency of this requirement,” said Araujo.
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 suffered an engine failure flying over Africa in May 2023, forcing the drone’s pilot to down it in the ocean where it was not recovered, according to a new Air Force report. The cost of the mishap was more than $21 million.