The Air Force on Oct. 26 released a request for information to industry for 10 commercial off-the-shelf aircraft to be adapted for military use, though the service is quiet on the possible mission of the aircraft. According to the RFI, the aircraft would need a cockpit for two crew members, and a cabin for a minimum of five workstations along with a jump seat. The cabin must have a minimum of 664 cubic feet, and a primary mission equipment weight of 13,000 pounds, states the RFI. The aircraft would need to be able to loiter for a minimum of 3.5 hours at 41,000 feet mean sea level. Air Force Materiel Command, in a statement to Air Force Magazine, said it is “prohibited from mentioning any USAF mission or aircraft associated with this RFI.” The request “is absolutely not a solicitation and merely represents market research. The information received could be used on several programs or none at all,” AFMC said in the statement.
Almost a decade ago, the Air Force created Kessel Run in 2017 as a military-commercial partnership and Airmen-led “software factory” in response to the service’s troubled rollout of the Air Operations Center 10.2. New leader Col. Brian Viola sat down recently with Air & Space Forces Magazine to talk about…