Lt. Gen. Thomas Owen, USAF’s program executive officer for aircraft, said he’s pleased with the C-5M Super Galaxy transport’s performance so far and said it’s meeting promised capability and reliability goals. He made these comments to reporters last week at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Marietta, Ga., at the delivery of the fourth C-5M. The three developmental models have been flying missions into Iraq and Afghanistan. Key elements of the C-5M configuration are the new engines that Lockheed Martin is fitting to C-5B and C-5C models under the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program. Asked how the RERP project went from a Nunn-McCurdy breach to meeting cost and schedule goals, Owen cited “open, honest dialog” with the company and jointly tackling issues. “Right now, the team is performing and I’ve got every confidence they’ll continue to do so,” he said.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.