Officials at the Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah say Boeing will deliver the first of the new A-10 replacement wings in July 2010 under the contract the Air Force recently awarded for 242 wing sets. Developing and awarding this contract, reports 1st Lt. Nancy Dias, took nearly three years. The Air Force extended the service life of the Warthogs from 6,000 flying hours to 16,000 hours by making structural modifications; however, despite the enhancements, the A-10s with “thin-skin” wings are failing at a high rate, according to Brent Berrett, director of Ogden’s 538th Aircraft Sustainment Group. Without this wing replacement program, the service would have to begin grounding A-10s in 2011.
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced a new partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s space warfare directorate to collect and share space weather data from the company’s suborbital spacecraft, due for its first commercial flight next year.