The Air Force Reserve Command’s C-130Js of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron have returned to their home station at Keesler AFB, Miss., which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The Hurricane Hunters have had a busy season. They are joined back in Mississippi by the Flying Jennies of the 815th Airlift Squadron.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.