Tyndall AFB, Fla., is ramping up maintenance assets to receive additional F-22 Raptors that will transfer from Holloman AFB, N.M., over the next few months, base officials announced. More than $65 million in tools and F-22 support equipment is pouring into Tyndall, and the base’s 95th Aircraft Maintenance Unit is set to more than double by July, according to a Jan. 6 release. About 30 percent of the equipment and supplies are already in place, and the 95th AMU is set to grow from 99 Active Duty personnel to 192 Active and 30 full-time Air Force Reserve Command technicians, officials said. With the arrival of combat-coded F-22s, “Tyndall is no longer just a training base,” said 95th AMU boss Capt. Emily Harris. The 95th Fighter Squadron, which stood up at Tyndall in October, expects to receive the first of its 24 combat-tasked F-22s early this year.
NASA, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance are all preparing to launch their next-gen rockets from Florida’s Space Coast, two of them before the year is out. One is expected to liberate the U.S. launch enterprise from its reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines, while all three rockets could eventually carry astronaut crews.