According to a new Congressional Budget Office report, the optimum way to help the Pentagon reduce deployment times for US forces in the early stages of a conflict is to develop and purchase heavy-lift airships. CBO notes that airships “would carry more than 10 times the average payload of a C-17.” However, it goes on to say, they would only travel at one-fourth the speed and “high winds could still present problems,” not to mention “uncertainty about technical feasibility, operational performance, and cost.”
KC-46’s Refueling Boom Damaged While Refueling F-22s
July 8, 2025
A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”