Clean-up efforts at the former Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio, Tex., are 69 percent done, the San Antonio Business Journal reports. Kelly’s shallow groundwater area is contaminated with a chemical called trichloroethylene that was used to clean and degrease aircraft parts, but the newspaper says there is “no evidence” of community exposure to contaminants from Kelly. Still, the Air Force has set aside $5 million for public heath funding and is working with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to “address issues associated with the clean-up process.
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.