Maj. Gen. Andrew Mueller assumed his new role as the Air Force’s chief of safety from Maj. Gen. Kurt Neubauer during a July 24 ceremony at Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Mueller, who has more than 4,000 hours in the E-3 Sentry, previously served as commander of NATO’s E-3A component in Germany. In his new role, he oversees the development, execution, and evaluation of the Air Force’s aviation, ground, weapons, space, and system mishap prevention and nuclear surety programs. He also serves as commander of the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M. “Safety is integral to every task necessary for the Air Force to fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace,” he said in a release. “Not only does safety touch every task … safety is key to the combat readiness of our Air Force.” Neubauer is slated to retire in September.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.