Boeing announced Monday that the Air Force has tasked it to develop a C-17 distributed training center at Scott AFB, Ill., headquarters of Air Mobility Command. The center, projected for standup in January 2012, will serve as the hub for networking the Air Force’s 10 existing C-17 training sites across the US and will expand the current capabilities of those sites to participate in distributed planning and training exercises. Sean Carey, AMC’s program manager for distributed mission operations, said the DTC will enable the command “to conduct continuation and mission-qualification training, execute mission-rehearsal operations, develop tactics, and participate in large-force exercises in a realistic environment at a fraction of live-fly costs and with very little risk.”
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.