B
OEING AND THE US Air
Force recently completed
supplemental type
certi cation (STC) fuel
on-load testing with
the KC-46A Pegasus.
The milestone occurred when
one KC-46A transferred 146,000lb
(66,224kg) of fuel to another at
a maximum ow rate of 1,200lb/
min during a ight conducted from
Boeing Field. During the STC testing,
the Pegasus also demonstrated
its ability to receive fuel from a
KC-135 and KC-10. In the course of
68 contacts the Pegasus received
540,600lb (245,212kg) of fuel.
The KC-46A program has now
completed 2,700 ight hours and
made more than 2,500 contacts
refueling contacts with F-16, F/A-18,
AV-8B, C-17, A-10, KC-10, and KC-
aircraft.UNIT
NEWS
24th TASS activated
The USAF reactivated the 24th
Tactical Air Support Squadron
(TASS) at Nellis AFB, Nevada,
on March 2. The unit, which is
equipped with Block 40 F-16C/Ds,
is primarily tasked with training,
supporting and performing close
air support. Among its missions,
the 24th TASS will focus on training
joint terminal attack controllers
(JTAC) and ying support missions
for multiple USAF Weapons School
weapons squadrons. The unit is a
component of the 57th Wing’s CAS
Integration Group.Ospreys arrive at Yokota
The USAF has accelerated its plans
for elding CV-22B tilt-rotors to
Japan and ve of the aircraft arrived
at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo on
April 5. The Ospreys arrived as ‘Knife
31 ight’ after being o -loaded
from a vehicle carrier in Yokohama.
Air Force Special Operations
Command (AFSOC) had planned
to deploy the rst of 10 Ospreys to
Yokota in 2020 but moved forward
with its plans to address regional
security concerns, ‘in line with the
recently released 2018 National
Defense Strategy’. Around 100
personnel will initially accompany
the Ospreys, which will conduct
training throughout the Paci c
Command area of responsibility
over the coming months. Ten
CV-22Bs and 450 personnel will
ultimately be stationed at Yokota as
part of the phased-basing plan. The
ve Ospreys will start by performing
training in the North-east Asia, Indo-Paci c region. The USAF expects to
formally activate the CV-22B unit in
Japan ‘sometime this fall’.Navy Gulfstream retired
The rst of ve C-20Gs operated
by the US Navy was retired when
BuNo 165093 arrived at Davis-
Monthan AFB, Arizona, on February- The Gulfstream IV had been
operated by eet logistic support
squadron VR-51 at MCAS Kaneohe
Bay, Hawaii, which is preparing to
convert to the larger C-40A Clipper.
Atsugi moves complete
F/A-18Es and F/A-18Fs operated
by strike ghter squadrons VFA-
and VFA-102 arrived at MCAS
Iwakuni, Japan on March 28,
completing their home port change
from NAF Atsugi near Tokyo. The
arrival of the ‘Royal Maces’ and the
‘Diamondbacks’ completed the
phased relocation of the CVW-5’s
xed-wing aircraft from central
to southern Honshu. The process
was conducted under the Defense
Program Review Initiative (DPRI)
and supports the navy’s strategic
vision for the Indo-Paci c region.Combat King II delivered
Lockheed Martin delivered the
rst of four new HC-130J combatsearch and rescue tankers to the
California Air National Guard’s
129th Rescue Wing at its Marietta,
Georgia, facility on April 5. The
Hercules subsequently departed
for its new home base at Mo ett
Federal Airport in Sunnyvale,
California, the following day. At
present the wing’s 130th Rescue
Squadron operates a eet of
MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft,
and the rst of those was retired
to Sheppard AFB, Texas, on March- There it will be used as a
ground-based trainer aircraft by
the 362nd and 363rd Training
Squadrons.
Final ‘classic’ Hornet deployment
Strike ghter squadron VFA-
quietly completed the US Navy’s
nal F/A-18C deployment when it
returned to NAS Oceana, Virginia,
on April 11. The ‘Blue Blasters’
Hornets left Oceana in January for
deployment with carrier air wing
CVW-2 aboard the USS Carl Vinson
(CVN 70). During the course of the
three-month deployment VFA-
ew 653 sorties and logged
more than 1,044 ight hours.
The squadron will be the last to
convert to the Super Hornet when
it begins its conversion to the
F/A-18E.MILITARY AVIATION GAINS
UNDER SPENDING BILL
ALMOST SIX MONTHS into the
scal year the US government
nally approved the 2018
spending bill, which was signed
into law by President Trump on
March 23. The $1.3-trillion budget
provided $700 billion for national
defense, which represented a
$61-billion increase over 2017
and was the largest rise in 15
years. Pentagon appropriations
include $589.5 billion in the base
budget and $65.2 billion in the
overseas contingency operations
(OCO) budget.
Aviation accounts received a
28 per cent increase over the
president’s 2018 request totaling
$19 billion, providing for the
purchase of 143 additional aircraft.
These include six C-130Js for the Air
National Guard and a pair of C-37Bs
to partially replace ve USAF C-20Bs
that have been retired.
The bill also provides an extra
$455 million for aviation spares
and repair parts to address
maintenance and readiness
issues. In addition to $144 million
for C-130 aircraft modi cations
and $40 million for F-16 radar
upgrades, funding was included
to restart the production of new
wings for the 109 A-10Cs that have
not yet received replacements.F/A-18F BuNo 166891 operated by VFA-102 lands at MCAS Iwakuni,
Japan, March 28, 2018. VFA-102 and VFA-27 have moved from Naval
Air Facility Atsugi to Iwakuni, marking the conclusion of CVW-5’s
fi xed-wing squadron relocations. USMC/LCpl Andrew JonesHC-130J serial 15-5842 departs Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, at
the start of its delivery fl ight to Moffett Federal Airport, California, on
April 6. The Super Hercules is the fi rst of four that will be assigned to
the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing. Thinh NguyenUNITED STATES [NEWS]
http://www.combataircraft.net // June 2018 11
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