The Air National Guard has not received a formal plan yet detailing how the Air Force intends to recapitalize the Air Guard’s aging fighter fleet, said Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, ANG director, Wednesday. “I have not seen that plan yet,” Wyatt told the House Armed Service Committee’s tactical air and land forces panel, when specifically asked about this in the context of the Air Guard’s F-16 Block 30 aircraft. Those fighters will reach the end of their service lives within the next 10 years. “We have been making some progress,” explained Wyatt. “I have seen some general plans, but nothing that would show me, for example, how many jets may be coming to the Air National Guard in the next three of four years to replace an aging-out aircraft.” He noted that the Air Force “has committed money for structural sustainment that will buy two to three more years of life” for the Block 30s.
Northrop Grumman test fired its newest solid rocket motor Dec. 4, part of an internally funded effort to rapidly design and build SRMs using advanced manufacturing techniques.
