The Air Force released an Energy Flight Plan on Tuesday, which outlines a long-term path toward energy assurance. Because the Air Force is largely dependent on the commercial electric grid, and both cyber and physical threats to that system are increasing, the service wants to ensure the mission can continue in the event of an outage. The 32-page plan focuses on three primary goals: “Improve resiliency, optimize demand, and assure supply,” states a Jan. 17 release. “We need to take a holistic approach to energy projects to provide resilient, cost-effective, cleaner energy solutions to ensure we can continue to operate when our energy supplies are interrupted,” said Miranda Ballentine, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment, and energy. Ballentine approved the plan on Jan. 6. (Read the plan; Caution, large-sized file.)
The Air Force is targeting August 2027 for its new T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet to reach its initial operational capability. To get there, the head of Air and Education Training has three milestones he needs to see the program hit.
