Air Force Reserve Command dispatched a third specially equipped C-130H transport aircraft on June 27 to California to fight raging wildfires there. The aircraft, from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo., deployed to McClellan Airfield in Sacramento to assist firefighters in battling the Corral fire north of Sacramento and the Piute fire south of the city, including the Sequoia National Forest near Lake Isabella. This C-130, along with seven others operating out of McClellan as of the end of June, are fitted with the modular airborne firefighting system that allows the aircraft to drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant per mission. Since June 26, when the missions began, these C-130s have dumped more than 117,000 gallons of fire retardant on the flames. (McClellan report by SrA. Stephen Collier)
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.