Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo., held its annual certification training for the C-130 aircrews that operate the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, announced Air Mobility Command officials. “We are providing annual MAFFS certification training for all four units,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Grimes, AMC’s airlift training branch chief, in the command’s April 24 release. In addition to the 302nd AW, there are three Air National Guard MAFFS units: the 145th AW in Charlotte, N.C.; 146th AW in Channel Islands, Calif.; and 153rd AW in Cheyenne, Wyo. “Having worked through significant budget cutbacks,” the MAFFS units “remain prepared to support the US Forest Service this year,” said Grimes. The training took place from April 19 to April 23. A MAFFS-equipped C-130 can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than 5 seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide, according to the release. (See also MAFFS Force Stands Down from Wildfire Support.)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.