Munition
s specialists at Ramstein AB, Germany saved the Air Force more than $31 million by doing the overhaul of 63 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles themselves. Airmen of the 435th Munitions Squadron worked with Raytheon contract technicians to transfer rocket motors from older AIM-120A AMRAAMs to the newer AIM-120B and C models. It took them three years. As they gained experience, they advanced from completing two a day to six per day.
While the Pentagon is halfway through its review of the Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program in the wake of “critical” cost and schedule overruns, the service has declared a similar issue for the helicopters meant to provide security and transport across those ICBM fields. The Air Force recently…