Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, sees the continuation of the C-130J for a wide variety of missions as diverse as weather reconnaissance and gunship, rather than spending money to develop a new capability when research and development dollars are scarce. “We need to take advantage of these platforms where we can go get economies of scale,” Schwartz said in an interview. “We had a period of time where money was readily available, and that time is rapidly coming to a close.”
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…