: The Ohio ANG’s 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield has become the first of eight Air Guard combat-ready units to convert to the C-27J transport, the Air Force’s newest airlifter. Army Maj. Gen. Gregory Wayt, Ohio adjutant general, joined wing officials and local and state politicians on Aug. 14 at the Mansfield Lahm Airport, the wing’s home, to celebrate the conversion. On the previous day, “The Spirit of Mansfield,” the first of the unit’s four C-27Js arrived there. The wing has flown C-130s since 1976. The Air Guard installation was initially recommended for closure through a 2005 base realignment and closure decision, but later received the new mission. The Mansfield News Journal reported Sunday that the wing expects to have all four of its C-27s in place by February 2011. Mansfield is also under consideration to host the C-27J schoolhouse.
Sikorsky is pitching a modified "U-Hawk" version of older UH-60 Black Hawk series helicopters as autonomous resupply aircraft with additional capabilities as missile or drone swarm launchers.
