Maintainers with the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing recently discovered that strips of a synthetic coating inside the fuel tanks of the unit’s C-130s had peeled off, causing the unit’s leaders to ground the aircraft for more than a week, reports the Albany Times-Union. Wing officials told the newspaper that the move was precautionary, since the problem could have led to a clogged fuel pump.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.