Ready for a new esoteric comparison? According to Lt. Col. Scott Gericke at Incirlik AB, Turkey, the base has moved so much gear and supplies to Iraq since becoming a cargo hub on June 1 that the cargo would extend the length of 15,800 Honda Accord automobiles. In weight, the total cargo moved equaled 20,000 tons. The real news is that by hauling the cargo out of Turkey rather than Germany, USAF can move twice as much with the same number of lift assets. Each C-17 can fly two sorties per day without refueling in flight, as opposed to one a day from their old base in Rhein-Main AB, Germany.
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…