The North Dakota Air National Guard’s Happy Hooligans of the 119th Fighter Wing now are slated to get C-21s—the Air Force’s version of a small business Learjet—to replace the F-16 fighters it will lose under BRAC 2005, according to Associated Press news service. Previously Guard officials told North Dakota lawmakers that the unit was in line to fly C-130 airlifters from the Fargo ANG facility. The 119th should be truly ecstatic, now that they will be getting a small, nimble jet and will also be flying unmanned aerial vehicles.
Facing competition from fast-growing startups, Lockheed Martin is speeding up production of an “affordable, scalable” hypersonic glide body, dubbed the Next Generation Glide Body, the firm said in a June 24 release.