To meet intra-theater airlift requirements, the Air Force would like to acquire 57 additional combat-delivery C-130J transport aircraft on top of the 70 that the Congress has already funded, Sue Payton, Air Force acquisition executive, told a Senate oversight panel March 12 in written testimony. USAF also wants dozens of modified C-130Js to support combat search and rescue helicopters and special operations forces, other senior service officials have said. But since the Air Force’s C-130J multiyear procurement contract with Lockheed Martin ends in Fiscal 2008, “we will be using suboptimized additional procurements through annual contracts to procure future aircraft until a new MYP contract can be negotiated,” Payton wrote. USAF has not requested funds to buy any combat delivery C-130Js in Fiscal 2009, but it does want to buy six of the special-mission C-130Js next year. As of February, Payton said USAF has fielded 63 C-130Js, including 10WC-130Js for weather monitoring and 7 EC-130Js for information and psychological operations. The Air Force continues to expand the envelope of its combat-delivery C-130Js in operations in Southwest Asia. On March 6, for example, a C-130J dropped leaflets over Afghanistan to encourage Afghan citizens to reject anti-government violence. This is the first leaflet drop for an active duty C-130J, according to a USAF release.
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.