An Air Force civil engineer rescue air mobility squad (RAMS) at Ali Base, Iraq, had trained twice to work with the Army UH-60 Black Hawk aeromedical evacuation unit when they got a real-world call: Two trucks had collided head-on and one driver was trapped. The RAMS team picked up their 200 pounds of extrication gear and their “battle rattle”—weapons and ammunition—and headed for a Black Hawk. It took all their tools and nearly two hours to free the driver, then the Army took over to treat and transport. The Air Force RAMS—14 airmen—at Ali Base cover all of southern Iraq.
The advanced F-47 sixth-generation fighter remains on track to fly in the next two years, the senior Air Force acquisition officer overseeing the program said Feb. 25, as the service continues on its ambitious schedule to debut the air superiority-focused fighter by 2028—only three years after the contract was awarded…