Air Combat Command has 15 specialists looking over the shoulders of the Lockheed Martin production crews working at Marietta, Ga., to turn out new F-22A Raptors. The ACC team inspects each aircraft at it’s being built, eliminating the need for a 30-day tear-down of each new Raptor after it’s delivered to the Air Force, reports Air Force journalist Josh Aycock. MSgt. Timothy Silkwood, Raptor Acceptance Team superintendent, explains that only the ACC team can OK work on 257 inspection areas and turn over a “pre-accepted aircraft.” The team estimates that its work will save the Air Force around $119 million.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
