A 21-ship C-130 formation launched from Dyess AFB, Texas, during a late June joint forcible entry exercise was the largest such formation to launch from the base since 1981, 7th Bomb Wing spokeswoman A1C Kedesha Pennant told Air Force Magazine Tuesday. USAF’s Weapons School class 14-A joined with Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to successfully carry out the largest Air Force-led rehearsal of a global response force JFE, helping to improve airborne insertion tactics, techniques, and procedures in anti-access scenarios, said Pennant. Hercules from the 317th Airlift Group, and units from eight other bases, launched from Dyess after six weeks of preparation, according to Dyess officials.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.