McGuire AFB, N.J., one of USAF’s new hubs for shipments to Southwest Asia (McGuire and Dover AFB, Del., have supplanted Charleston AFB, S.C. in that role) sent off its first “Red Ball Express” flight on New Year’s Eve. The Air Force inaugurated an earlier “Red Ball Express,” utilizing C-141s flying out of Travis AFB, Calif., to support operations in Southeast Asia. Late last year, USAF announced it would shift its SWA cargo flights from Charleston to the northeast bases to save time and money. McGuire now flies the new C-17 airlifter and the KC-10 tanker/cargo aircraft.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.