Air Mobility Command has proved the use of C-17 strategic airlifters to support the nation’s missions at the South Pole, when an aircrew from McChord AFB, Wash., dropped the first C-17 load—about 70,000 pounds—to scientists at the pole. The typical Operation Deep Freeze platform is an LC-130, but the C-17 can deliver four times as much in a single pass. Use of the C-17s is key to emergency resupply, especially when conditions prevent the ski-equipped LC-130s from landing.
The Air Force has finished resurrecting a B-1B Lancer, completing a yearslong process to transform a bomber that had been stored for parts in the Arizona desert into the new flagship of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.