The 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M., welcomed its second new-build MC-130J Combat Shadow II aircraft. Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training Command, accepted delivery of aircraft No. 5682 for the training unit on Tuesday. He called it “an honor” to accept the newest member of Kirtland’s fleet. The MC-130J came to Kirtland from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Marietta, Ga. The Air Force is procuring a fleet of MC-130Js to replace its older MC-130 special-mission aircraft. (Lockheed Martin release)
It’s Time for the Air Force to Embrace the F-35
May 23, 2025
Douglas A. Birkey The United States revolutionized air combat with the invention of stealth technology and the low-observable combat jet. Beginning in the 1980s with the F-117 and continuing in the years that followed with the B-2, F-22, F-35, and...