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.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.