Two C-130Js and airmen from the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Ark., landed in Lima, Peru earlier this week to help respond to flooding and landslides that has killed more than 100 people and left over 150,000 people homeless. The aircraft landed April 4 to deliver supplies, such as meals, water purification systems, and generators. The Air Force is ready to deploy another aircraft to help airdrop supplies to austere locations if necessary, Air Force spokesman Col. Patrick Ryder told reporters. The Pentagon has also donated $270,000 for equipment, such as water purification systems and portable solar generators, to help respond to the disaster.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.