For the second time in a row, Air Mobility Command has canceled its biennial international readiness competition—Air Mobility Rodeo. Announcing the decision April 24, AMC commander Gen. Darren McDew said the planned competition slated to kick off this August at McChord Field, Wash., will not take place due to budget constraints and a “high current operations tempo,” according to the announcement. The last Rodeo was held at McChord in July 2011, and featured more than 150 teams and 3,000 attendees. “During these challenging times, we need to be good stewards of our very limited funds and our airmen’s time,” McDew said, adding the decision was “unfortunate” but necessary under the circumstances. He added AMC is looking to tailor future Rodeo events to ensure the command will get “the most training and international partnership building value from this event.” Rodeo was cancelled in 2013 due to sequester related budget cutbacks, and was cancelled in 2003 due to operational commitments.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.