The Air National Guard is airdropping hay to livestock stranded by blizzard conditions out west, in a smaller-scale replay of Operation Haylift from 1949. In this effort, a Wyoming ANG C-130 began flying airdrop missions out of Pueblo, Colo., on Jan. 3, supplementing National Guard helicopters. The C-130 can hold up to eight of the one-ton hay bales, which break apart when they strike the ground. This is not a new feat for the Air Guard, which fairly routinely provides this service during severe winter storms, but few efforts would rival the 1949 operation, when numerous C-82s flew more than 125 sorties.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.