Boeing announced Wednesday that it has connected the Air Force’s F-15E mission training centers at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., and RAF Lakenheath, Britain, to the service’s distributed mission operations network. These two sites join the F-15E MTC at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, which Boeing tied into the DMON in June. F-15E pilots at these three bases are now able to train virtually at home with other military pilots connected to the network at their own bases around the globe. “Having all three MTCs on the network is a significant achievement,” said Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president for training systems and services. He noted that the MTCs allow for realistic training without the financial or environmental costs or safety risks of live-fly training exercises.
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.