The Air Force expects to award the contract for the Light Air Support program by early December, USAF spokesman Lt. Col. Jack Miller told the Daily Report Monday. Miller said he could not comment on the status of any of the proposals in the LAS competition “due to the ongoing source selection,” when asked about Hawker Beechcraft’s announcement last week that the Air Force had excluded the company’s AT-6 aircraft from further consideration. Meanwhile, Michelle Erlach, spokeswoman for Sierra Nevada, the US company teamed with Brazil’s Embraer in offering the Super Tucano to be LAS, told the Daily Report that the Air Force had “not given us any further update,” but that the Tucano was still in the competition. The Air Force is planning to acquire 20 LAS aircraft for the Afghan air force. (See Monday’s initial coverage.)
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
