The Air Force has set a three-phase approach to tackle the C-130E center wing box crack problem that grounded some 30 older model Hercules and restricted another 60 E and H models. According to the Macon Telegraph, the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center has begun Phase 1—reworking the tooling needed to replace a wing box and purchasing a new matching wing box kit for the first aircraft repair. The actual installation—some 14,000 hours work—will take place next summer. In Phase 2, the ALC buys additional wing boxes. The repairs have to be done around the center’s standard depot repair work, but officials tell the Telegraph they have planned the enterprise to not cause “much of a blip.” Phase 3, however, gets tricky, they say, because additional C-130s will be arriving at the break point in flying hours.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
