Air Mobility Command officials Tuesday awarded $2.2 billion in airlift contracts for the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, which lines up commercial airlines to supplement Air Force airlift, principally during emergencies. Awards went to Alliance Contractor Team, with an estimated $1.22 billion; Federal Express Team, $864 million; UPS Team, $121 million; Miami Air Team, $42 million and Continental Airlines, $11 million. Other contracts were awarded to Falcon Air Express, Grand Air Holdings, Lynden Air Cargo, MN Airlines, and Spirit Airlines for contracts between $2,000 and $254,000.
The Air Force still needs more than 300 combat squadrons, but the biggest priority is not number of squadrons but capability, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Sept. 22. He also suggested the records set by the Next Generation Air Dominance prototype likely have more to do…