Engine repair work has slowed down at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, now that maintainers have a limited number of parts left to work with, states a June 27 base release. “Right now we still have work, but with sequestration, there are a lot of parts ordering constraints,” said SSgt. James Root, aerospace propulsion journeyman with the 366th Component Maintenance Squadron. “We have engines in the back shop that are ready to be fixed, but we can’t get the parts to fix them.” One Mountain Home fighter squadron is deployed, but the other has stooddown as part of Air Combat Command’s new tiered readiness model. Instead of using the time to catch up on repair work, Mountain Home maintainers are spending their time completing training or participating in team-building exercises. “Our job is to make sure there are no leaks [and] everything runs well. … We try to make it so the engines can stay in the jets for a couple years at a time,” said MSgt. Chad Jacobsen, section chief for the 366th CMS engine test cell. “We are the last line to make sure the engine is serviceable before it goes into the jet.”
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.