Student pilots training at Altus AFB, Okla., will begin a year-long test of a new instrument landing system that Air Force officials are considering incorporating across the service. Initially tried at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., Altus will be the first training base to assess the landing system. “The Federal Aviation [Administration] will then flight-check it to make sure it is working properly and after that, it will go through first-article testing for about a year before they will decide if the system is going to work Air Force-wide,” said MSgt. Randall Ward, operations flight superintendent with Altus’ 97th Communications Squadron. Unlike the legacy ILS that requires local technicians to maintain and monitor it, technicians will control the new system remotely from Tinker AFB, Okla. Engineers will begin installing the landing system on Altus’ outer runway on Jan. 23. (Altus report by A1C Kenneth Norman)
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week.