On May 1, the National Museum of the US Air Force will shutter its Presidential Gallery and its Research and Development Gallery “until further notice” due to the budget cutbacks resulting from sequestration, according to a museum release. “This was not an easy decision, as we have several popular exhibits in the Presidential and R&D Galleries, including President Kennedy’s Air Force One and the XB-70 Valkyrie,” said Museum Director Jack Hudson in the April 2 release. “Our goal has been to make every effort to maintain museum operations to the maximum extent possible, and we hope to reopen these galleries as soon as possible,” he said. The museum will remain open during normal business hours, and the Air Force and Air Force Museum Foundation will fund the utility costs each day the museum is open, according to the release. “These are challenging times,” said Hudson. “However, we will continue our mission of sharing the Air Force story with the public and inspiring our youth.” (Dayton report by Rob Bardua) (Museum website)
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
