ACC chief, Gen. Ronald Keys told Washington-based defense reporters Thursday that there are other platforms, besides a B-52 standoff jammer, and other capabilities that could share in the jamming mission. He said he is considering using systems such as the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy-Jammer (MALD-J) and the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile to kill threats. Other platforms, Keys explained, could include a C-130 variant of current and new fighters with advanced radar systems to “see and block surface to air missiles.”
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…