The Strategic Airlift Capability consortium’s Heavy Airlift Wing flew its first mission into Iraq, marking another milestone for the multinational C-17 unit that stood up and received its first aircraft in July 2009 at its base in Hungary. The wing flew its first mission to Afghanistan in October. For that and the Iraq mission, USAF Col. John Zazworsky, HAW commander, said the wing employed a “multinational crew members in all crew positions” and noted that “the capability of any unit comes down to the caliber of the personnel in the unit.” He said, “In our case, we have moved from idea to combat operations in three years.” The Iraq mission included redeployment of 30 International Security Assistance Force personnel and 25 tons of equipment. (US Air Forces in Europe report by 1st Lt. J.D. Griffin)
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.