The Maryland National Guard christened its first C-27J the “Pride of Baltimore II” during an arrival ceremony at the Warfield Air National Guard Base in Baltimore. Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, ANG director; Maj. Gen. James Adkins, adjutant general for the Maryland Guard; and Brig. Gen. Allyson Soloman, the Maryland ANG’s assistant adjutant general for air; all attended the Aug. 10 event. Maryland’s 135th Airlift Group is slated to receive four Spartan aircraft after it lost its C-130J mission in BRAC 2005. The remaining Super Hercs will leave the base by month’s end, according to a release. “It is a cultural change for us. It is like going from a Cadillac to a Maserati,” said Soloman. “We will see how the aircrews handle a sports car.” The Ohio Air National Guard conducted the first-ever C-27J mission in Afghanistan on Aug. 4.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
