The Air Force’s 13-page response to questions from the contractors vying for the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program leaves no doubt that USAF acquisition officials are satisfied that they have met all challenges and won. They insist, contrary to recent criticism, that the “Air Force CSAR warfighter has been involved in every step of the CSAR-X acquisition since its inception.” They claim the original award to Boeing “met or exceeded all warfighter requirements and represented best value.” They also dismiss claims that their “subject matter experts” had “no experience” on the three vying platforms—Boeing’s HH-47, Lockheed Martin’s US101, and Sikorsky’s HH-92—saying that the SMEs are wartime experienced airmen with “significant” rotorcraft experience under real-world conditions and that provides them “appropriate knowledge and qualifications.” On the issue of fuel burdened costs, USAF maintains that it is following March 2007 OSD guidance, so plans to implement these new requirements “at the proper time in the acquisition process,” which for the CSAR-X will come at the production and deployment approval point.

Air Mobility Command’s 615th Contingency Response Group at Travis AFB, Calif., have descended upon the former Castle Air Force Base, near Merced, Calif., for a weeklong exercise, during which the airmen are opening a “seized” airfield. Some 250 airmen and...

Aircraft maintainers at Altus AFB, Okla., decided it was time to try their hands at a never-been-done-before feat—repairing an “engine abraidable cartridge fiberglass support” on a KC-135 F108-CF-100 turbofan engine. The normal process, according to a report by Raymond Brzozowski...

Washington and Seoul have decided to increase the acreage on Kunsan AB, South Korea, to accommodate possibly two US Army helicopter battalions and possibly other units, reports Stars and Stripes. US Forces Korea hasn’t made final plans, but the expected...

The Congressionally chartered Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care believes that DOD should get the green light to raise Tricare fees for military retirees. In its just-released interim report, the 14-member group—seven from within DOD and seven non-DOD individuals from a variety of disciplines—states that the members believe “military retirees should receive health care benefits that are generous compared with US public and private plans.” Consequently, the report states, “Costs borne by beneficiaries should be increased to a level below that of the current FEHBP or that of generous private-sector plans and should be set at or below the level in effect in 1996.” Federal civilian retirees pay about 25 percent of total costs under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan. The task force, which plans to recommend specific cost-sharing proposals in its final report due in December, believes the Pentagon should implement new fees over three to five years. The good news: The task force recommends Congress implement “a onetime increase in military retired pay to offset part or all of the increase” should it feel the fee increase is too large. For the second year in a row, lawmakers seem inclined to put the skids on DOD's rush to impose a fee increase.

The Air Force and DARPA have begun a formal collaboration making use of DARPA’s Prognosis program for F-15 and F-16 fighter engines—F100s and F110s. The research agency launched Prognosis a few years ago to develop the means to predict future...

The Air Force has presented medals to three Reserve airmen from the 92nd Aerial Port Squadron at Wyoming Valley, Pa., for their actions to help injured motorists in a 2005 car crash, reports SrA. Dan Lanphear. For pulling a motorist...

Boeing officials say the company has completed “end-to-end testing” for the Wideband Global SATCOM payload command and control system, which means the WGS is set for launch this summer. A Boeing release stated that the C2 system enabled communication from...

The Defense Department’s POW/Missing Personnel Office has placed online an electronic database of names of all US military members still missing from World War II. The action is the result of three-year’s work, according to a Pentagon release. The database...

A possible contender to arm USAF’s next generation bomber has fired its scramjet engine for the first and completed a critical design review, according to a Boeing release. Air Force Research Lab’s Propulsion Directorate manages the X-51A WaveRider Scramjet Engine...

The 12th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, will be sending a second pilot for the second year in a row to the Air Force Thunderbirds Aerial Demonstration Team. Second Lt. Erin Slaughter reports that USAF has selected Lt. Col....

June 3, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 16 11 27 CAS/Armed Recon 60 42 102 Airlift 123 123 Air refueling 43 43 Total 76 53 166 295 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...