The 
31st Maintenance Squadron at Aviano AB, Italy, unveiled the base’s first locally painted F-16 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the base’s new NATO-funded Corrosion Control Facility. Opened on Oct. 19, the facility will enable maintainers to sustain and extend the life of the F-16s, while avoiding the costs of having this work done elsewhere, states an Oct. 24 Aviano release. “The new facility will allow personnel assigned to the aircraft structural maintenance corrosion control section to conduct all aspects of corrosion control and treatment, to include sanding, media blasting, priming and painting and stenciling an entire F-16,” said 2nd Lt. Eric Boehm, 31st MXS fabrication flight commander. Aviano’s 31st Fighter Wing expects to save $32,000 per F-16 by performing these tasks at home, states the release. From start to finish, airmen in the facility can sand, prime, and paint a jet “in less than a week,” states the release. (Aviano report by SSgt. Justin Weaver)
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.