The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve already provide a huge percentage of the nation’s organic airlift capability, and those percentages are likely to go higher, said Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Darren McDew on Tuesday. In his address at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., McDew said 71 percent of the Air Force’s C-130s transports and 60 percent of its KC-135 tankers are in the Guard and Reserve, “and we may even increase those ratios, going forward.” He said the Guard and Reserve deliver airlift at the same readiness rates as the Active Duty force, and “I don’t lose any sleep” over whether the capability will be there when called upon.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
