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The admission standards for the US service academies are incredibly demanding, to say nothing of the task of graduating. But success runs in the Robillard family. The four children of the family, who form two sets of twins, are all graduates of the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado:
As twins, and soon-to-be 2nd Lieutenants, Alicia and Amanda Robillard graduate today, the Robillard’s makes history as the first family to graduate four sisters from the Academy.
“As anyone who attended the academy can attest to, there is just that language and shared experience that all grads have in common, and being able to share that with all my sisters has really kept our bond strong,” said Lauren Robillard, Class of 2007 and the eldest sister of the family. “I would even venture to say that by having all attended the academy, we are closer than we otherwise would have been.”
Link via The Mary Sue | Photo: USAF Academy
Weighing in at 30,000 pounds, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator of the US Air Force will become the largest air-dropped non-nuclear bomb ever built:
The MOP is 20 feet long and can penetrate bunkers up to 200 feet before exploding. At 15 tons, the MOP is a third heavier than the previous “mother of all bombs”, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, which was only 10.5 tons. The MOP also packs a whopping 5,300 lbs of explosives, which is 10 times the amount its predecessor bunker-buster, the BLU-109, carried. Basically, it’s massive.
The push for accelerated deployment is due to the increased perceived nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea. It’s believed that many of their nuclear programs could be in development underground, below levels of current bunker-busting bombs’ range. The Pentagon intends the rapid deployment to send a message that the United States is tweaking strategies to address new threats. And nothing is more American than advertising the sheer size and tonnage of the bombs hanging below our jets.
That stands for “vertical take off and landing”, not in the way that a helicopter does, but more like the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey in the U.S. military inventory. As the U.S. Air Force is moving toward a greater role for unmanned aircraft, the Excalibur could have a production future:
The unmanned aerial system (UAS) could pack a 400-pound payload of four Hellfire missiles, and also deliver weapons or other supplies to warfighters deep in rough territory. Its design allows it to have a maximum speed of 460 mph, but also have the ability to loiter overhead at just 115 mph.
Link (where you can find a video of a 1/2 scale version in flight)
