Advocates for upgrading the entire fleet of huge C-5 airlifters, both the A and B models, maintain that the revamped aircraft would achieve a mission capability rate of nearly 85 percent, a big jump from its present 49 percent. However, Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, USAF’s acquisition deputy, and Maj. Gen. Thomas Kane, Air Mobility Command’s requirements director, testified that the true improvement would be only 10 to 15 percent higher than the current rate. That would mean a modernized C-5 would reach around 50 percent reliability. Getting to that point will be a slow process, which is one reason the Air Force really would prefer to retire the A models. Keeping the As in the air is a chore. “For every flying hour that they fly, over the last 16 years, the A model C-5s require 61 percent more maintenance man hours per flight hour,” stated Hoffman.
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
