Air Mobility Command has proved the use of C-17 strategic airlifters to support the nation’s missions at the South Pole, when an aircrew from McChord AFB, Wash., dropped the first C-17 load—about 70,000 pounds—to scientists at the pole. The typical Operation Deep Freeze platform is an LC-130, but the C-17 can deliver four times as much in a single pass. Use of the C-17s is key to emergency resupply, especially when conditions prevent the ski-equipped LC-130s from landing.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
