According to GAO’s analysis of nearly 15,000 strategic airlift missions for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, AMC underutilized C-5 and C-17 aircraft on more than 97 percent and more than 81 percent of their missions, respectively, based on DOD’s standard payload planning factor. While the data would seem to indicate a glaring misuse of airlift capability, GAO emphasized that had AMC collected data on operational factors, these payloads might “indicate efficient use of an aircraft’s capacity.”
The new F-15E and F-15EX electronic warfare suite, meant to protect the fourth-generation fighters in contested battlespace—was shown to be “operationally effective” and “suitable,” the Pentagon's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation said.