Imagine a new paint that isn’t a carcinogenic hazard for the painters, is environmentally friendly, and reduces painting time. Air Force Materiel Command and friends at the University of Missouri-Rolla, Boeing, and Deft Industrial Finishes have concocted just such a material to replace the one currently used to strip and paint F-15 fighters. And, the new non-chromate materials perform as well as the old chromate primers, say AFMC officials. AFMC expects to complete full conversion to the new primer through the six-year Program Depot Maintenance cycle, with 36 Eagles already painted since September 2005.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III chaired a China-focused military briefing Oct. 27, part of a biweekly series of briefings with senior military commanders about China’s growing threat in the wake of an orbital hypersonic weapon test that elicited public worries from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “What we…