Airmen Tackle Cope India

October 14, 2009
Air Force Print News|by Capt. Genieve David

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii - Members of the U.S. and Indian air forces will train together during exercise Cope India through 24 at Air Force Station Agra in Uttar Predesh, India.

This year's Cope India will be an airlift exercise that focuses on the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission.

More than 150 American Airmen, along with four C-130 Hercules aircraft, one C-17 Globemaster III, will join Indian air force Airmen and one IL-76 Gajraj, four AN-32 Sutlejes, two MI-17 Prataps, and one Chetak Alouette III for the exercise.

"The U.S. Air Force looks forward to this opportunity to work with the Indian air force," said Raymond Bundschuh, the 13th Air Force lead planner for the exercise. "Exercises like Cope India strengthen solid military-to-military relationships with our air forces in the region as we train together."

Cope India participants will exchange airlift, airland and airdrop delivery techniques, participate in aeromedical and disaster management exercises, conduct cooperative flight operations, to include aircraft generation and recovery, low-level navigation, tactical airdrop, air-land missions, and conduct subject-matter-expert exchanges in the operations, maintenance and rigging disciplines.

This exercise continues to strengthen the bond between the U.S. and Indian air forces, and will be the fourth installment of Cope India.

Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Modernizing the KC-10

(Source: Rand Corporation; issued Nov. 5, 2009)

The U.S. Air Force's KC-10 air refueling fleet has been in service for 25 years without a major avionics upgrade. Without modernization, the KC-10 will not be in compliance with upcoming air traffic mandates regulating the minimum communication, navigation, and surveillance capabilities of aircraft flying in certain regions and altitudes.

The first mandates will take effect in 2015, with additional mandates scheduled for 2018 and 2025. A loss of access to optimal airspace and routings would increase costs and degrade the KC-10's wartime effectiveness by precluding the aircraft from flying the most fuel-efficient altitudes and routings in civil air traffic systems and causing delays on the ground and in the air.

A detailed analysis of the cost-effectiveness of KC-10 modernization showed that, overall, the upgrades would result in net cost avoidance. The assessment took into account varying fuel costs and cost growth for nonfuel items, as well as the costs of noncompliance, such as avoiding restricted regions and altitudes.

The findings show that even under a worst-case cost scenario, the savings resulting from KC-10 fleet modernization would exceed the cost of the upgrade long before the fleet is retired in 2045.


http: //www.rand. org/pubs/monographs/MG901/