Rockwell Collins has signed a maintenance agreement with L-3 Communications to provide avionics service and support for the Air Force’s MC-12 Liberty intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft. “This maintenance contract is based on best practices that we’ve developed for commercial airlines and business jet operators for many years,” said Scott Gunnufson, Rockwell’s vice president and general manager of Service Solutions, in the company’s release. This new contract calls for Rockwell to provide maintenance on all 37 MC-12Ws. L-3 is the MC-12 prime contractor. Just last week, the Air Force announced that Beale AFB, Calif., will be the stateside home of the MC-12s, which have been providing invaluable direct overhead ISR support to ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3