Officials at McChord AFB, Wash., plan to ramp up nighttime training by 20 percent and fly the sorties out of McChord rather than the alternative site of Grant County Airport at Moses Lake, Wash., according to local TV station KOMO. Base officials say they need to revise C-17 training to match real-world situations, such avoiding the gunfire, anti-aircraft artillery, and ground-launched missiles encountered in Southwest Asia. The training will include rapid, spiral descents and climbs, with landings on 3,500 feet of the 10,000-foot base runway.
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.