Air National Guard wants Commercial Aircraft as Tankers. (Washington pulse).The Air National Guard supports the use of commercial Boeing 767 jets as tanker platforms to replace existing C-130s and KC-135s. "We need to purchase a new wide-body aircraft," said Maj. Gen. Paul A. Weaver
The Weavers are small passerine birds related to the finches. These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical , the director of the Air National Guard. "We need a tanker not only with tanking capabilities, but with four missions--tanker fuel, cargo, passenger and air-med," he said. "A commercial wide-body aircraft could do just that." The current fleet is aging, he said. "We are just about maxed out." The first step in the modernization modernization Transformation of a society from a rural and agrarian condition to a secular, urban, and industrial one. It is closely linked with industrialization. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increasingly important, gradually replacing the family, of the tanker fleet, he stressed, would be to buy a commercial aircraft that can fly long distances. "Our tanker fleet is long-haul," he said. "We have become an expeditionary force An armed force organized to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign country. expeditionary force n → cuerpo expedicionario expeditionary force n → corps m , so everything we do, we need to get there." The Air Force KC-135E tanker, based on the Boeing 707 airframe, has been a workhorse work·horse n. 1. Something, such as a machine, that performs dependably under heavy or prolonged use: "the 50-year-old DC-3 ... , but needs refurbishing, said Weaver. The service has approximately 360 KC-135R versions, which are modernized mod·ern·ize v. mo·dern·ized, mo·dern·iz·ing, mo·dern·iz·es v.tr. To make modern in appearance, style, or character; update. v.intr. To accept or adopt modern ways, ideas, or style. , in addition to about 130 KC-135Es, which are older. Under operations Nobel Eagle--in support of homeland defense efforts in the United States--and Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan, the Guard has mobilized 6,000 members. That number, said Weaver, may increase substantially. Weaver spoke to reporters in Washington days before his retirement at the end of October. |
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