Testifying before Senate appropriators Wednesday, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said he is concerned about the service’s ability to maintain its greatly-in-demand C-130 tactical airlifters. He explained that despite a host of upgrade programs, the Air Force essentially is performing “geriatric maintenance,” a condition that will continue into the far future. Even after re-engining and replacing center wing boxes on older C-130s, Wynne said, “We still have to inspect the outboard wings because we’re afraid they’ll crack and fall off.” It takes 24 hours to do that inspection, and it must be done every 70 hours. And, that leads Wynne to believe that “the replacement rate of C-130s is probably inadequate.”
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…