Gen. Tom Hobbins, US Air Forces in Europe commander, recently traveled to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Qatar to visit with airmen deployed from Ramstein AB, Germany. He said it was a “promise” he made. Hobbins also took time to pursue some NATO business, particularly to evaluate the airlift and refueling operations at Manas and the command and control organization in Kabul that supports NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.
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.