Members of the 55th Wing from Offutt AFB, Neb., and their RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic-signals-collecting aircraft have been deployed in the US Central Command area of responsibility every day for the past 7,000 days—that’s since August 1990. And there’s no end in sight for these high-in-demand assets, which have played a role in every CENTCOM operation since. “It’s quite an honor to be out here for this length of time,” said Lt. Col. Richard Linehan, commander of the 763rd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, who is responsible for the operations oversight of the RC-135s that fly out of an air base in Southwest Asia as part of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. He added, “The importance of our platform in the grand scheme of things has only grown over the years.” (379th AEW report by A1C David Dobrydney)
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.