The 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, completed a first for any C-130J unit: launching 10 of its airplanes at the same time. “This is the first time a single squadron has put 10 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft into the air at once,” said Lt. Col. Driscoll, 37th AS chief pilot and mission commander. The feat took place on Oct. 5 when the C-130Js, plus one C-17, took off from Ramstein for Italy, as part of Exercise Bayonet Resolve. At Aviano Air Base, they picked up 800 Army paratroopers from Vicenza Army Base, along with 12 Air Force joint terminal attack controllers and 130 Polish air force jumpers, for an airdrop over Hohenfels Army Airfield in southern Germany. “This is by far, the most realistic exercise we could complete compared to a real-world situation,” said Driscoll. “The planning that made this exercise possible was extensive.” (Ramstein report by A1C Ciara M. Travis)
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
