The Air Force will not simply “start over” with the snake-bit combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said yesterday afternoon at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. The program was won by Boeing’s HH-47 last year, but the Government Accountability Office has upheld two successive protests by losing bidders—Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky. Wynne said the service would release “amendment five” to the request for proposals in late October, again holding the competition to just the original bidders. “May the best company win,” he said. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley said he’s trying to hold onto the originally planned in-service date. If the schedule is broken, he’ll have to find money to extend the service lives of the HH-60 Pave Hawks, and he doesn’t have any money for that.
The Air Force could conduct an operation like Israel's successful air campaign against Iran's nuclear sites, military leadership and air defenses, but readiness issues would make it risky, airpower experts said. Limited spare parts and training, low mission capable rates and few flying hours would put a drag on USAF's…