The Air Force is taking a hard look at how it can control costs in contractor logistics support. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, in a press conference last week at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., said many capabilities “have come into the force quickly” over the last decade of war, compelling the Air Force to skip developing formalized training programs, organic support, or even, in some cases, operational test and evaluation. But CLS costs are rising, and so the Air Force needs to give them a scrub as it looks for savings and the proper balance of work in-house and by contractors, he said during the Feb. 24 press event.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.