Boeing took an E-3 AWACS aircraft upgraded with Block40/45 improvements for a successful seven-hour test spin recently, according to an April 12 company release. Boeing calls the upgrade program “the single largest enhancement in the history of the US Air Force E-3 AWACS fleet.”
With a fresh directive from the president, the department could opt to repeat its unconventional—and potentially unlawful—move to pay troops using unused non-personnel appropriations.

