The Air Force is leveraging the experiences of certifying its first alternative aviation fuel blend as it embarks on approving additional mixtures for the fleet. “We are taking advantage of lessons learned from the Fischer-Tropsch certification program,” Jeff Braun, who heads USAF’s alternative fuels certification office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, told the Daily Report. That program, set for completion next year, saw the Air Force go essentially from platform type to platform type to certify each to run on a 50-50 blend of traditional JP-8 aviation fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene. Based on that experience, “fleet-wide, system-by-system certification” will not be necessary as service officials clear the use of new blends containing some amount of biomass-derived fuel known as hydro-treated renewable jet fuel. Instead only the “most challenging” platforms from the FT certification will have to go through a distinct certification process, he said.
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…