According to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Government of Singapore has decided to train its F-16 pilots with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing. He said in a Jan. 7 statement, “The decision will bring an additional $60 million into Tucson’s economy and is a vote of confidence in the future of the Tucson Air National Guard in light of the pending evaluation by the Air Force for the stationing of the F-35 Lightning at Tucson IAP.” The Ohio ANG’s 178th FW at Springfield learned Jan. 4 it would not get the new contract, reports the Springfield News-Sun. The 178th FW, which loses its F-16s under BRAC 2005, expects to wrap up its training mission for Dutch F-16 pilots this fall. An Ohio National Guard official told the newspaper that although the Air Force and Air Guard had discussed a number of missions, “all of that is still up in the air.”
The Space Force awarded three contracts for rocket launches worth up to a combined $13.68 billion on April 4—and the usual players SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have got some competition in the form of newcomer Blue Origin.