Two specially configured C-130s from the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Islands ANG Station on Wednesday deployed to Kirtland AFB, N.M., to help contain wildfires that have been raging for nearly two weeks in the southwestern United States. Those containment missions are scheduled to begin Thursday. These aircraft carry the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, self-contained equipment that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds on an area one-quarter of a mile long by 60 feet wide. Previously this year, MAFFS-equipped C-130s from across the nation helped fight wildfires in Texas and northern Mexico. (Tyndall report by Tom Saunders)
After years of experiments and tests, senior Air Force leaders say they're on the verge of using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to launch cruise missiles via airdrop, touting the development as a way to bolster the combat fleet and a major shift in the service’s mindset.