Rejoining the C-130 AMP

The Air Force would like to perform avionics upgrades to 166 special-mission and older combat-delivery C-130 aircraft that currently lie outside of the scope of its C-130 Avionics Modernization Program. It does want to include them under that same project....

Full-Rate production for BATMAV

The Air Force has approved the Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle for full-rate production, AeroVironment, maker of the tiny unmanned camera-carrying airplane, reports Business Wire news service. The Air Force chose AeroVironment’s Wasp III mini aircraft design, which weighs...

Burning Up With Excitement

The Airborne Laser program capped a successful year by recently achieving its final 2007 milestone, prime contractor Boeing announced. ABL teammate Northrop Grumman completed inspection and refurbishment of the high-energy laser components that were previously tested successfully in a system...

Looking for What’s Next in Minnesota

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) continues to press the case for the Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing at Duluth to receive newer aircraft than its Block 25 F-16s. The Duluth News Tribune reports that Klobuchar discussed the topic during...

More MQ-9s For Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force wants to acquire 10 additional MQ-9 Reaper hunter/killer unmanned aerial vehicles, along with associated equipment and services, from US contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems under a proposed foreign military sale that could be worth as much...

Note To Air Force—Better Analysis Needed

The Government Accountability Office has disclosed why it sided, in part, with Alabama Aircraft Industries (formerly Pemco) in the company’s September 2007 protest of the Air Force’s $1 billion contract award to Boeing for KC-135 depot maintenance. “The record does...

At Sea Airdrop:

A C-17 crew from McChord AFB, Wash., conducted an 11-hour mission, flying from Christchurch, New Zealand, Jan. 4 to airdrop critical equipment to a British fishing ship that had been stranded in ice in the Antarctic since it suffered engine...

IG Calls for Better WMD Coordination:

The Pentagon’s Inspector General has found that the Defense Department’s activities to combat weapons of mass destruction have been splintered and uncoordinated among about 40 separate offices and commands. The situation is such, states the IG, that officials cannot tell...

In Honor Of:

There are now two roads dedicated to MSgt. Randy Gillespie, who was killed by small arms fire in Afghanistan in July 2007. Airmen at Bagram Air Base on Jan. 1 dedicated “Gillespie Way” to the fuels specialist, while his home...

Two Receive Bronze Stars:

The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star medal to Col. Brian Neal, commander of the Maryland Air National Guard’s 135th Airlift Group, for his service while deployed as commander of the 447th Air Expeditionary Group in Iraq, reports WJZ-TV...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Jan. 2, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 21 7 28 CAS/Armed Recon 62 42 104 Airlift 143 143 Air refueling 41 41 Total 83 49 184 316 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...