Members of the 74th Fighter Squadron, an A-10 ground-attack unit at Moody AFB, Ga., conducted surge operations over three days in late April to help prepare themselves for upcoming phase II operational readiness exercises. The surge test was meant to gauge the squadron’s ability to simulate wartime flying rates. A successfully generated flight is considered to be a single sortie. While the unit set the goal of flying a total of 138 sorties in that span, they ended up conducting 205—67 sorties more than planned. “I’ve been flying this jet since 1996, and I’ve never seen a unit produce this many sorties,” said Lt. Col. James Clark, 74th FS commander. To reach 205 sorties meant that each of the squadron’s pilots spent at least five hours a day flying the aircraft. (Moody report by SrA. Frances Locquiao)
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.