According to the water-cooler talk amongst defense analysts and industry types, AugustaWestland’s US101 is leading the pack to win the competition for the Air Force’s new combat search and rescue vehicle, known as CSAR-X. The Lexington Institute’s Loren Thompson tells Gannet News Service that he doesn’t hear much support in the Air Force for “buying anything else than the US101.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.