USAF Gen. John W. Handy, commander of US Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command, will retire Wednesday after 40 years of active military service. The ceremony, to be held at Scott AFB, Ill., also will mark the first separation of TRANSCOM and AMC command responsibilities. (The unified transportation command was created in 1987.) USAF Gen. Norton A. Schwartz will replace Handy as commander of TRANSCOM. Lt. Gen. Duncan McNabb was nominated July 14 to receive a fourth star and become the new head of AMC, the Senate Armed Services Committee did not take up his nomination before the August recess. As of Monday, the committee had not posted its confirmation hearing schedule.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.