Britain’s Royal Air Force will get a fifth C-17 airlifter and will purchase the first four that it has been leasing from Boeing. The British under-secretary of state for defense, Tom Watson, announced the news last week, according to Government News Network (UK). The lease arrangement gave the RAF the original four until 2008, at which time Britain could either buy or extend the lease. Buying the new airlifters, said Watson, “will give the RAF a guaranteed long-term capacity.”
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.