The estimated cost of repairing three C-130s damaged in a tornado last month at Little Rock AFB, Ark., has gone up. Initially pegged at about $6 million to fix the three aircraft, the estimate now stands at twice that, reported the Warner Robins Patriot last week. The Daily Report confirmed the new estimate with a Robins spokesman. The Georgia base is home to the Aerospace Sustainment Directorate that dispatched a team to Little Rock to inspect these airplanes. Two of the three aircraft are 1962-vintage C-130Es that would require $3 million apiece to repair. The third airframe, a C-130H, would need about $6 million of work, according to the assessment team. While the decision to repair or dispose of the aircraft rests with Air Mobility Command, both E models were already slated for retirement later this year, making their refurbishment unlikely, an assessment team member told the Patriot.
The Space Force’s work to establish a pool of at-the-ready commercial satellite capacity during a crisis is moving out of the pilot phase as the service prepares to award its next batch of contracts in 2026.
