More than half of the Air Force’s mobility platforms now have the navigation gear so that they can operate safely in the world’s increasingly crowded air space, according to the Air Force’s general in charge of tankers and transports. “We have about 63 percent of our fleet complete,” Gen. Arthur Lichte, commander of Air Mobility Command, said of the global air traffic management upgrades being added to platforms like the C-130, C-5 and VIP-shuttle aircraft during his presentation at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium on Feb. 22. However, the general noted, it is essential for USAF to complete the mobility fleet soon. “That is not good enough if we are going to do big operations in the future,” he said. “As a matter of fact, it is not good enough because we won’t be allowed to fly in certain airspace in 2015. We have to get on with this and this will help us to continue to save lives and, of course, help us to save a lot of fuel.” Lichte noted that there have been no aviation-related safety fatalities in the past six-and-a-half years of supporting the global war on terror.
RTX, parent of Raytheon, Collins and Pratt & Whitney, is getting out of the space prime business and focusing on its "strengths" as a maker of space sensors, buses, and components, company COO Chris Calio said during an earnings call.