The 86th Airlift Wing of Ramstein AB, Germany retired one of its C-130 Hercules yesterday, reports Stars & Stripes, because the “E” model is out of date. The cargo plane, nicknamed the “Ace of Spades,” began its service life on June 5, 1964. Its new home will be the boneyard, the familiar sobriquet for the Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., where it will be stripped of any parts that might be useable for current models.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.