The 86th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, is now using robotic vehicles to help move supplies. Airmen in the squadron’s warehouse now work beside five laser-guided, automated vehicles that have replaced the warehouse’s old conveyor belt system. The belt system was much louder and more expensive to maintain than the new equipment is expected to be. The robotic vehicles add efficiency to warehouse operations, US Air Forces in Europe officials say. They patrol up and down the warehouse, stop at designated points, pick up parcels, move them to designated locations, drop them off, and then move on. “Now technicians who had to move items from a drop location to the conveyors or drive forklifts can be freed up to pull parts or process shipping documents,” said Eduard Junko, 86th LRS chief of operations. (Ramstein report by TSgt. Michael Voss)
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.