Daily Report

Dec. 21, 2011

Iraq Colors Arrive in US

President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey gathered on Tuesday at JB Andrews, Md., to welcome home US troops from Iraq. Among the troops was Army Gen. Lloyd Austin,...

Stopping New START Confusion

The State Department recently released a fact sheet containing the aggregate numbers of US strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems based on the counting rules of the New START agreement with Russia. By our read, some of the numbers didn’t...

Retired BUFFs Due for a Snip

One of the questions after the US-Russia New START agreement entered into force earlier this year was what would have to happen to out-of-service B-52Gs so that they would no longer count against the United States’ heavy bomber totals. Currently,...

BONE Flow Improving

Nine B-1s Lancers have successfully completed depot maintenance at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla., since implementation of a new program in October 2010 to get the bombers back to their units faster. It’s called high-velocity...

Italians Bring New 767 Tanker to Mildenhall

The Italian Air Force visited the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, Britain, with one of its newly acquired Boeing KC-767 tankers. “We are trying to start an exchange program with the US Air Force, so they invited us...

Same Story, Different Month

The Air Force’s active duty component and Air Force Reserve continue to meet their recruiting goals so far for the fiscal year, while the Air National Guard is tracking some 150 new accessions short of its Fiscal 2012 target thus...

Building Blocks

With the C-130J Block 7.0 configuration in flight trials, Lockheed Martin received a $167 million contract from the Air Force to develop a follow-on Block 8.1 package, announced the company. Currently equipped to the Block 6.0 standard, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Super Hercules aircraft will receive protected communication, navigation, air-traffic-management, and identification avionics, in addition to physical enhancements like covert operations lighting under the Block 8.1 upgrade. "Throughout its history, the C-130 has constantly changed and adapted to ensure it is always relevant and meeting the latest operational requirements," said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed's C-130 program vice president. In addition to US aircraft, the company said it will also offer the upgrade option to international C-130J operators. "The Block Upgrade Program ensures interoperability across the worldwide C-130J fleet. This sophisticated degree of commonality . . . is one reason the proven Hercules is in such high demand," added Martin.

B-52 Designer Dies

Holden “Bob” Withington, one of the aeronautical engineers credited with conceiving Boeing’s B-52 bomber in a hotel room in Dayton, Ohio, in October 1948, died at his home on Mercer Island, Wash., reported the New York Times. Withington died on...

Eglin Getting New F-35 Hangar

A general contractor team, working in conjunction with Air Force civil engineers and the Army Corp of Engineers, began demolishing an old B-52 hangar on the grounds of Eglin AFB, Fla., in order to make room for a new F-35...