The first C-5M Super Galaxy is now at Dover AFB, Del., undergoing its first isochronal inspection—a process that takes about 14 days and that every C-5 must undergo about every 420 days to ensure it meets safety and operations standards. The use of the M designation means the aircraft has undergone the complete Aircraft Modernization Program and Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program the Air Force is currently testing for the C-5 fleet. Lockheed Martin finished work on this first M model last spring.
A new Air Force plan for how many fighters it needs in the next decade marks a sharp upturn from what it thought it needed just seven years ago. But analysts worry that the aspirational plan now in Congress' hands doesn’t make a tight enough connection to national strategy.
