Great Falls International Airport, Mont., is the preferred location to host the Air National Guard’s seventh operational C-27J unit, announced the Air Force leadership Wednesday. Home to the Montana Air Guard’s 120th Fighter Wing, Great Falls beat out Boise Air Terminal AGS, Idaho, as the preferred site. The final basing decision is expected in mid-2011, after completion of the environmental impact study required by law. Like the six C-27 operational beddown locations identified to date, Great Falls would host four of the twin-engine transports, with aircraft delivery expected in mid-2014. Great Falls’ KRTV TV news reports that assigning the C-27Js there could mean that the 120th FW loses the F-15s that it just began operating in June. In August, the Ohio Air Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield became the first unit to convert to the new airlifter.
A Defense Department team is on the ground in Ukraine assessing what the country needs to protect itself from air, naval, electronic, and cyber warfare threats as Russian troops gather on multiple fronts, a senior Ukrainian defense official told Air Force Magazine, describing an emphasis on what assistance can be…