The task of keeping the Air Force’s critical E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft relevant over the next several years as the service implements its Block 40/45 hardware and software upgrade just got a whole lot harder. The office maintaining the E-3’s 1970s-vintage Jovial computer code just put up an out-of-business sign, citing “lack of funding.” All would be well if the Air Force could speed up the upgrade, but an Air Combat Command official says the 40/45 funding profile is “very cumbersome.” In test now, the program enters limited-rate production in 2009 and full-rate in 2012, but it would be “another nine to 10 years” before full fielding, says John Shelton, an ACC E-3 program official. And, such a long profile almost certainly leads to rising costs. The real problem, of course, is the Pentagon decision to curtail the AWACS replacement.
Billy Mitchell: Lessons a Hundred Years Hence
Dec. 16, 2025
Exactly 100 years ago, on Dec. 17, 1925, Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell was convicted by court-martial for violating an order that required approval before he could engage with the media. Mitchell’s provocative thoughts and unorthodox methods sought attention for a cause that he saw as uniquely American.
