The leaders of Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla., don’t bemoan the fact that they are flying some of the Air Force’s oldest aircraft—HC-130s tankers and HH-60 helicopters. Instead, they tell Norman Moody of Florida Today, that the aircraft are “still reliable” largely through the efforts of the unit’s highly experienced maintainers. Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) blames the Clinton Administration for the Air Force’s elderly fleet of aircraft, telling the newspaper that the Bush Administration and Congress “have been working to procure new aircraft.”
A recent Air Force contract to buy up to $50 million worth of small drones from Anduril Industries may soon allow the service’s special operations command to transform its MQ-9 Reapers into drone-launching motherships.
