The Iraqi air force has received its final three factory-fresh C-130J transports, completing its order for six of the Lockheed Martin-built airlifters, company spokesman Peter Simmons told the Daily Report on May 6. The first of these three airframes left Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Marietta, Ga., on April 23 en route to Iraq via a US air base, said company officials. Iraq acquired these six C-130Js via a foreign military sale announced in July 2008. Last December, the Iraqis took possession of the first three C-130Js. The Iraqi air force has also been operating several C-130Es.
In the final few hours before the Senate adjourned for its Memorial Day recess on May 26, lawmakers approved a raft of some 3,400 pending military nominations, including a number of high-profile Air Force and Space Force generals to assignments that will significantly reshape some of the upper echelons of…