Officials with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla., expect to install the tooling over the next few months in the shop being established there to help maintain the Air Force’s inventory of F117 engines, the turbofan powerplants for C-17 transports. The massive F117, four of which power each C-17, will be the largest engine ever maintained at Oklahoma City. When fully functional, the shop will employ up to 150 workers in two shifts to maintain an average of six to 10 engines per month under a partnership with Pratt & Whitney, the engine’s maker. The first practice engine will arrive early next year to train workers. (Tinker report by Howdy Stout)
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…