Fire-equipped C-130 Hercules from the North Carolina ANG’s 145th Airlift Wing have been reinforcing the US Forest Service this past week in Mesa, Ariz., battling two strong wildfires near Phoenix, the East Valley Tribune reports. Converting a Herc into a firefighting aircraft takes nearly an entire day, since “slurry tanks” (large containers of fire retardant) need to be fitted into the cargo bay and secured to two giant nozzles that disperse up to 3,000 pounds of foam retardant in a single shot over an area 60 feet wide and nearly a quarter mile long.
In a new 2026 appropriations bill released Jan. 20, Congress included an extra $900 million to save the E-7 airborne early warning and control aircraft from cancelation, an additional $500 million for the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter to address “emerging” needs, and $401 million to make up for “economic factors” in…
