Air Force Research Lab also issued a contract—this one just over $231 million—to General Electric for work on its revolutionary engine program, dubbed Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology. As with the contract awarded to Rolls Royce, AFRL expects the work to be done by September 2012 on this hunt to find greater fuel efficiency and thrust and reduced maintenance and production cost.
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…