Washington state’s Democratic Senatorial delegation—Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray—have put in play an amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill to save the 36th Rescue Flight at Fairchild AFB, Wash. The amendment (S.A. 358) would restore some $4 million to the Administration’s budget—there was no money for the 36th—and would direct the Defense Secretary to “ensure that no action is taken to deactivate the 36th Rescue Flight or to reassign or reorganize any of the search and rescue capabilities of that unit.” In a joint statement, Cantwell commented that the unit’s UH-1 helicopters “train thousands of aircrews each year and provide critical search and rescue capabilities for Northwest communities and the nation.”
China’s dependence on Russian fighter aircraft engines may soon affect the People’s Liberation Army Air Force fleet if Russia can't service or provide engines or parts for up to 40 percent of the Chinese fighters, experts at the China Aerospace Studies Institute conference said. Western sanctions on Russia related to…