T
he first two of 15 former South Korean T-38 trainer aircraft have arrived at Holloman AFB, N.M., for regeneration to operational status and use as aggressor aircraft in F-22 training drills at JB Langley, Va., and Tyndall AFB, Fla. “The addition of these T-38s will dramatically increase the combat capability of our F-22 pilots,” said Lt. Col. Derek Wyler, Langley’s T-38 adversary air program lead. Plus, USAF officials say the T-38s will be affordable to operate in this role. The 15 T-38s returned to the United States from South Korea in November 2009 and have been sitting at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., since. M1 Support Services will overhaul them at Holloman. The first seven rebuilt T-38s will be assigned to Langley; the others are destined for basing at Tyndall. NASA is using a modified, wide-bodied cargo aircraft to bring the T-38s to Holloman, two at a time. All 15 T-38s are slated be at Holloman in February. (Holloman report by SrA. Sondra Escutia)
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.