Depot technicians from Hill AFB, Utah, and maintainers at Shaw AFB, S.C., have been adding a new beyond-line-of-sight communications package to the Shaw F-16 fleet in time for the 79th Fighter Squadron’s upcoming deployment. To accomplish the upgrade, which enables satellite communication unhindered by terrain, the Shaw maintainers remove the engine and all panels, providing the Hill technicians with full access to the wiring harness from the cockpit through the engine bay and up into the tail for the BLOS installation. Then, the Shaw group reinstalls the engine and panels and completes operational checks. The team compressed the seven-day process by taking an aircraft apart and modifying it concurrently to ensure work would be done in time for deployment. The upgrade work is to continue through March 2010 for the 77th FS and 55th FS F-16s. (Shaw report by SSgt. John Gordinier)
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.