The Michigan Air National Guard launched a $32.6 million project to install an in-ground refueling system and modern fuel storage facility at Selfridge ANGB, Mich. “The hydrant system will reduce truck traffic, … creating a safer and more efficient way to deliver fuel to our tanker aircraft,” fuel superintendent MSgt. Eric Henderson said in a release. The new, eight hydrant system will allow for the up to 203,000 pounds of fuel required to fill KC-135s to be pumped directly into the aircraft, instead of being trucked to the flight line. Upgrades will also include a new 630,000 gallon storage facility to replace the current 1958-vintage tank farm and a safer, remote truck unloading facility. The new facilities will serve the 127th Wing’s KC-135s and A-10s, in addition to Army, Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection tenants. Selfridge recently completed runway and taxiway renovation, built a new munitions complex, modernized its air traffic control systems, and upgraded its operations and security forces facilities, according to the release.
The U.S. military needs to wake up to the fact that global dominance is no longer a viable strategy for national defense, because pursuing that unrealizable goal is making the country less safe, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said April 22. Emerging defense technologies like swarms of…