A C-130J Super Hercules left Lockheed Martin’s production facility at Marietta Ga., on its ferry flight to Dyess AFB, Tex. Delivered to the base’s 317th Airlift Group on April 18, the stretched C-130J-30 is the 18th of Dyess’ planned 28 new airlifters. Col. Gerald Goodfellow, Dyess’ 7th Bomb Wing vice commander, piloted the aircraft on the ferry flight and handed over the airlifter’s ceremonial keys to the 317th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, according to a base release. Dyess took delivery of its 17th C-130J—also a stretched dash-thirty—on April 4.
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.