U.S. Air Force Chief Of Staff Delivers First Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules For Dyess AFB, Texas

April 16, 2010 by Jeffrey Bradford · View Comments
Filed under: Lockheed Martin, Syndicated Industry News 
U.S. Air Force Chief Of Staff Delivers First Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules For Dyess AFB, Texas
April 16, 2010 11:42 AM

MARIETTA, Ga., -- At ceremonies today in Abilene Texas, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz delivered the first of 28 Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] C-130J Super Hercules airlifters to the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess Air Force Base. Schwartz flew the C-130J to Dyess from Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.

In delivering the first aircraft, the Air Force's top uniformed officer said the C-130 has been flying in the skies over Abilene for almost 50 years, noting that the "latest version of the backbone of our tactical airlift capability will continue the great legacy built by generations of aviators."

"The delivery of this C-130J and others like it is a step toward modernizing our airlift inventories," General Schwartz said, "we'll continue to make progress in this area over the next few years."

The new aircraft will replace the existing Dyess fleet of 33 aging C-130s flown by the 317th Airlift Group. The C-130J Super Hercules fleet will be delivered over the next two years with final delivery in 2012.

"This is certainly yet another proud day for the C-130J program" said Ross Reynolds, Lockheed Martin vice president for C-130 programs. "We are seeing more and more that when the time comes to replace aging C-130 fleets, or establish new fleets, the choice is made to acquire the Super Hercules. There is no other airlifter that has the capability, flexibility and proven track record of the C-130J. From airlift recapitalization in the U.S., to the growing list of countries selecting the C-130J, this aircraft has the capability to meet whatever operational challenges the future holds."

Other nations which are operating, or have ordered, the C-130J include Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Iraq, Italy, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Most recently Israel signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. Government to a

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Air Force Seeks to Balance Current, Future Needs

February 23, 2010 by Jeffrey Bradford · View Comments
Filed under: Syndicated Industry News 
Air Force Seeks to Balance Current, Future Needs
February 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, – The Air Force’s budget request for fiscal 2011 provides the right balance between supporting the war efforts and other current-day commitments while posturing for future challenges, the top Air Force civilian and military leaders told Congress today.
The $119.6 billion request is designed to ensure the Air Force has what it needs to support four strategic priorities outlined in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley told the House Armed Services Committee.

“First, we must prevail in today’s wars,” Donley told the panel. “Your Air Force understands the gravity of the situation in Afghanistan, and as we continue to responsibly draw down the forces in Iraq, we are committed to rapidly fielding needed capabilities for the joint team.”

This, Donley said, includes surging intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets into the theater and maximizing air mobility to accelerate the flow of forces into Afghanistan.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz noted that in addition to providing critical air and space power for the joint and coalition team, airmen are providing battlefield medical support and evacuation, ordnance disposal, convoy security and other missions.

“The reality is, the country’s at war,” he said. “And if there is a demand, if there is a need for us to serve a wartime function, we will do so.”

Preventing and deterring conflicts across the spectrum of warfare is another priority in the budget request, Donley told committee members.

Continuing to strengthen the nuclear enterprise is a top Air Force priority, Schwartz said.

“The rigor of our nuclear surety inspections demonstrates a new commitment to the highest levels of performance,” he said. “But we must and we will do even more to ensure 100 percent precision and reliability in our nuclear operations and logistics 100 percent of the time.”

Donley pointed to the standup last year of Air Force Global Strike Command and the realignment of the Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile and bomber wings under a single commander. In addition, the Air Force stood up a nuclear weapons center to consolidate management of all nuclear weapons sustainment activities.

Meanwhile, the Air Force is increasing its engagement around the world, building partner capability in Afghanistan and Iraq while developing a training framework that emphasizes light attack and mobility capabilities that can benefit other nations as well, Donley said.

Another priority driving the budget request is the need to be prepared to defeat adversaries and succeed in a wide range of contingencies. “We need to ensure that we are providing the right capabilities with our strategic airlift and ISR platforms and ensure our space-based assets continue to deliver needed capabilities for the future,” Donley said.

At the same time, the Air Force must ensure its weapons systems – strained by two decades of sustained operations – are up to the task, the Air Force secretary said. This involves modernizing some aircraft and retiring and recapitalizing many of the legacy fighters and tankers, replacing them with F-35 Lighting II joint strike fighters and KC-X next-generation aerial tankers.

“Awarding a new aerial refueling aircraft contract remains our top acquisition priority,” Schwartz said. He called the F-35 program another imperative, noting that it will be the workhorse driving much of the Air Force and the joint force forward.

Both Schwartz and Donley emphasized the importance of long-range strike capability, supporting development of a family of systems that will provide penetration as well as standoff capabilities for the next 20 or 30 years.

“We need to get on with a long-range strike capability to replace the legacy bombers that we’re operating today, and to get ahead and stay ahead of evolving threats in that area,” Donley said.

Another principle driving the budget request is the need to preserve and enhance what Donley called the Air Force’s most valuable resource: its airmen.

“This budget request supports these airmen and our continuing efforts to rebalance the force, make difficult decisions on what we buy and sustain our needed contributions to the joint team,” Schwartz said.

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KC-X Tanker RFP Out In February

January 21, 2010 by Matthew Potter · View Comments
Filed under: Boeing, Congress, EADS, KC-X, KC-X Tanker News, Northrop Grumman Corp. 

At a recent press availability the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, General Schwartz, said that he expects the final RFP for the KC-X contest to be released next month. He also stated that it will be little changed from the draft RFP. Both Northrop (NOC) and Boeing (BA) have been submitting questions and comments on the draft RFP and some of these will be addressed in the final one. The RFP will be released a few weeks after the 2011 Defense Budget goes to Congress which is planned for 2 February.

Schwarz did say that the final RFP may have changes based on recent comments by Northrop and its partner EADS (EADS:P) that they might not participate as they felt the RFP favored Boeing too much. Both groups had also commented on the use of a fixed price development contract and how it transferred too much risk to the contractor from the Government.

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