Daily Report

Dec. 16, 2010

Renewed Drive to include WTO Rulings in KC-X Decision

With perhaps less than one month until the Air Force chooses the KC-X tanker supplier, and less time left in the lame-duck Congressional session, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) is still pushing to make trade issues a factor in the Air...

Reset the Benchmark

The Aerospace Industries Association would like to see a new benchmark level of spending on military hardware, AIA president Marion Blakey said Wednesday. Addressing aviation and defense writers in Washington, D.C., Blakey said personnel costs now eat up such a...

No Fat Cats

The aerospace industry isn’t a “fat cat” and shouldn’t be targeted for tax hikes and cutbacks, Aerospace Industries Association president Marion Blakey said Wednesday. Speaking at an industry lunch in Washington, D.C., she claimed that the “top five companies combined”...

No Early Christmas Present

The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system did not shoot down a ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean during a scheduled intercept test Wednesday, the Missile Defense Agency announced. The intermediate-range target missile successfully flew from the Kwajalein Atoll in the...

Conventional Thinking

The Defense Department plans to invest “well over $1 billion” for research and development of conventional prompt global strike capabilities over the five-year period starting with Fiscal 2011. The State Department has released this information as part of the Obama...

Distinguished Upgrade

The 76th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, received its first C-37A, boosting US Air Forces in Europe’s capabilities for distinguished visitor travel. The airplane—a military version of the Gulfstream V ultra-long-range business aircraft—arrived from Gulfstream’s facility in Savannah, Ga....

Situational Awareness Upgrade for Remotely Piloted Aircraft

Raytheon Solipsys, a Raytheon subsidiary, has won a $9 million contract to install its Zeus situational awareness and collaboration system for remotely piloted aircraft at 18 Air Combat Command, Air National Guard, and Air Force Special Operations Command locations. “Zeus...

Dutch F-16 Pilots operating Again in Arizona Desert

The sight of F-16s landing at Tucson International Airport, Ariz., with drag chutes means that the Dutch are back. After a three-year absence, a contingent of Dutch pilots is training again with the Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing. The...

AFSOUTH Sponsors Safety Workshop

The safety office for 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., recently conducted a mishap investigation workshop in Argentina. The Spanish-language seminar brought together 16 safety representatives from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, the United States, and Uruguay, to...

Air Sorties from SWA 120610

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Dec. 6-8, 2010 Sortie Type OND OEF OND/OEF Total YTD ISR 69 208 277 26,554 CAS/Armed Recon 46 250 296 33,689 Airlift 499 499 59,297 Air refueling 132 132 16,590 Rescue 92 92 7,807 Total...