The US101 team, led by Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y., released a statement yesterday following the Air Force’s clarification of its plan to issue a revised request for proposals, saying it’s entrant for the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program would be “at least $3 billion less expensive” than the original CSAR-X award winner, Boeing’s HH-47. In its statement, Team US101 called “a full and open recompetition” the “most appropriate path forward” and vowed to help USAF field the CSAR-X as soon as possible. The statement said, “We remain committed to meeting the program’s original [initial operational capability] date of September 2012.”
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
