An Alaska Air National Guard C-130 cargo aircraft airdropped 10 bundles of supplies—comprising 11,840 pounds of rice, oil, blankets, and other emergency relief material—to a mountain village 9,000 feet above sea level. The Afghanistan government made a special request for the US to aid the villagers last week when the locale’s roads were closed by snow.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.