Some 30 Senators and Congressmen of both parties sent letters to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to urge the Pentagon buy more new C-130J transports. Rebecca Christie of Dow Jones Newswires reports that Georgia Republican lawmakers Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Rep. Phil Gingrey are leading the drive. (Hint: Lockheed Martin produces the aircraft at its Marietta, Ga., plant.) If the Pentagon stands fast, production would cease in 2008. However, the Air Force may want to revise its plans. It issued a request for information on Nov. 3, looking for replacements for the service’s HC-130 and MC-130 special duty aircraft that could be fielded by 2011.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…