US airmen and aircraft played a key role Dec. 10 in working with the Royal Air Force to save the life of a Burmese man who suffered a life-threatening head injury onboard a Liberian-flagged cargo ship more than 320 miles west of Cork, Ireland. Two USAF HH-60G rescue helicopters from the 56th Rescue Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, Britain, flew pararescueman to the ship. Once lowered on deck, they attended to the injured man, who had fallen 40 feet from a container. He was then hoisted aboard one of the HH-60Gs and flown to Shannon, Ireland, for hospital treatment. Because of the distances involved, an MC-130P from the 67th Special Operations Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, Britain, accompanied the helicopters to refuel them. Even the MC-130P required more fuel during the mission, so a KC-135 of the 351st Air Refueling Squadron at Mildenhall went airborne to support it. An RAF Nimrod maritime surveillance aircraft provided communications support. Airmen with the 603rd Air and Space Operations Center at Ramstein AB, Germany, coordinated all of the rescue activities during the half-day mission. “The UK and US rescue coordination was outstanding,” said Lt. Col. Neil Eisen, 56th RQS commander. (Ramstein report by Maj. Cristin Marposon)
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.