The Air Force has opened a new dormitory for entry-level enlisted airmen at Shaw AFB, S.C., that features an innovative, energy-saving geothermal climate-control system. The Associated Press reported March 9 (via Columbia’s WIS TV 10 news station) that the $17 million three-story dorm uses a system of 174 wells to circulate water underground to heat and cool the building, which will house 144 airmen in private rooms that share kitchenettes. A second such dorm is planned for Shaw.
The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc. and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems matching $17.7 million contracts for an "Off-Board Sensing Station,” which is an unmanned aircraft that would extend a manned fighter’s sensing range and also potentially carry additional weapons for that aircraft. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts…