The Air Force is offering a few early hints of what it’s looking for in its next-generation replacement for the C-5 and C-17, including the ability to fly in and out of makeshift airfields on austere battlefields.
airlift
Lawmakers want to know more about how the Air Force and Pentagon might employ autonomous cargo drones to resupply troops in remote locations in the future, according to reports attached to the House Armed Services Committee’s draft version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization ...
The Air Force wants to spend more than a half billion dollars through 2031 on a new protection system designed for cargo and refueling aircraft that features onboard sensors and weapons to track and take down enemy missiles and drones.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.
In an effort to improve connectivity aboard Air Force tanker and mobility aircraft, the Pentagon’s commercial technology innovation unit wants a system to install new applications on aircraft, such as a moving map display that helps aircrew see through the fog of war.
Air Mobility Command’s interim boss said the Air Force is behind on modernizing its airlift fleet, to include selecting a Next-Generation Airlifter to replace the service’s fleet of C-5 and C-17 workhorses—a project that faces stiff competition for resources in the service’s modernization portfolio.
The Air Force’s airlift fleet is in desperate need of modern connectivity, spare parts, and other innovations to keep going amid growing demand and modernization plans still in their infancy, according to a former senior leader and a new research paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
The head of Air Mobility Command envisions just one type of aircraft will handle the Air Force’s strategic airlift needs when the venerable C-17 and C-5 transport jets are replaced, though the exact nature of that aircraft is yet to be determined.
A new startup has a contract with the Air Force’s innovation arm and a prototype to test its new concept: a network of “flying pickup truck” drones to solve the problem of logistics in the Pacific.
The Air Force and Navy’s logistics capabilities—including airlift and aerial tanking—are insufficient for the needs of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, its commander told lawmakers last week, and the requirement needs to be addressed by more than just commercial stopgaps. He also endorsed the idea of small, ...
“Sept. 30 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift. In the first victory of the Cold War, U.S. and U.K. Airmen flew 278,000 sorties, rescuing the people of West Berlin from starvation. Yet the strategic significance of this crucial air campaign ...
Sept. 9 marked the end of an era as Gen. Mike Minihan, the head of Air Mobility Command, retired after a 34-year career and passed the baton to Gen. John D. Lamontagne at a ceremony at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. During his tenure, Minihan ...