After hearing about the proposed alternative C-130 plan that would loan some reserve component C-130s to the active Air Force for possibly five years (see Just a Five-Year Load above), Rep. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.) posed a key question: “Doesn’t that mean a loss of airlift capacity under Title 32 [the Air Guard’s state mission]?” Air National Guard boss Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt acknowledged there would be some degradation. However, he told the House Armed Services readiness panel Tuesday, that there “are sufficient C-130s” in the Air Guard to share between states, utilizing the emergency assistance compacts set up by the adjutants general. Wyatt emphasized, “It will take a little bit of extra work and it will take a lot more coordination, but barring a huge catastrophe, we think there’ll be adequate airlift” during this loan period. And, he said, some states likely would get their C-130s back more quickly.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.