Rapid Fire 2011-12-19: Mitigating Fuel Costs

* Kim Jong-Il’s death makes North Korea a big question mark given the youth of his apparent heir Kim Jong Un, presumably born in 1984. * The US Senate approved last Friday the FY12 omnibus appropriations bill that had already been passed by the House. This wraps up work for the Senate in 2011. * Dyke D. Weatherington, Deputy Director, Unmanned Warfare, sees the focus for UAV acquisition shifting to improving existing platforms rather than launching new programs, at least in the short term. * The K-Max unmanned helicopter made its first cargo flight in Afghanistan. * The US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is working with the Air Force to increase use of commercial-grade Jet A fuel instead of military grade JP8. The latter freezes at a lower temperature but using commercial fuel will lower costs for little operational impact. DLA uses 3 additives to meet military requirements. * It’s also in part to mitigate rising fuel costs that the USAF has opened a KC-10 cargo load training facility at the Travis AFB in California.