Air Force engineers at the Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn., earlier this month began performance testing of an F110 engine from an F-16 running on a 50-50 blend of traditional JP-8 aviation fuel and a bio-fuel. The Air Force is using a bio fuel referred to as hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel, or HRJ, that is derived from the oil of the seeds from the camelina plant. The service intends to certify its entire aircraft fleet for unrestricted use of this HRJ blend by the end of 2012. The work at AEDC “is producing the baseline data” to support flight testing and fleet-wide viability assessments, said Jeff Braun, director of USAF’s alternative fuels certification office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Back in March, an A-10C became the first aircraft to fly with this 50-50 blend in a test. (Arnold report by Philip Lorenz)
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.