The 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar, handles some 20 percent of all passengers and cargo transported by Air Mobility Command forces. By comparison, Rhein Main AB, Germany, handles about 13 percent. For the month of September alone, 8th EAMS will have airlifted an estimated 32,000 passengers and 20,000 tons of cargo. “We are known as the Ramstein of the AOR,” said Lt. Col. Doug Engelke, the unit’s commander.
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.