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.
The Air Force has finished resurrecting a B-1B Lancer, completing a yearslong process to transform a bomber that had been stored for parts in the Arizona desert into the new flagship of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.