The Air Force declares that the Fischer-Tropsch fuel blend is OK for operational B-52H use. The service completed testing a mix of FT and JP-8 on a B-52 bomber—selecting it as first test subject because it has eight engines—and already has started testing the 50-50 blend on a C-17 airlifter. USAF now expects by 2011 to have tested and certified every aircraft type to fly with a domestically produced synfuel. (Read The Fuel War.)
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.