The Air Force’s in-demand C-130 tactical airlifters are making vital weekly runs to three remote contingency operating locations in the Horn of Africa, calling the missions HOA Flex. The C-130s and their crews are based in Southwest Asia but deliver people, food, water, and other supplies to two sites in Ethiopia and one in Kenya, an area about two-thirds the size of the US. Since the missions started in May 2006, the C-130s have delivered more than 3.5 million pounds of cargo and some 2,400 people, landing on dirt and crushed rock airstrips.
Facing competition from fast-growing startups, Lockheed Martin is speeding up production of an “affordable, scalable” hypersonic glide body, dubbed the Next Generation Glide Body, the firm said in a June 24 release.