CNN
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The U.S. Air Force has accelerated the schedule for scrapping the small surveillance planes used to remove fentanyl tablets from the streets, telling National Guard pilots to fly the planes to cemeteries and strip them by the end of this month. I am telling you that you need to About the parts, according to documents obtained by CNN.
A new plan to retire the twin-engine RC-26 aircraft months earlier than expected would reduce the fleet of small but heavily used aircraft despite their contribution to countering drug and border missions. It shows an escalation in the quest for services to be phased out.
It also comes at a time when the Biden administration is facing increased scrutiny over its border policies, grappling with a dramatic rise in fentanyl-related deaths across the country.
The Air Force told pilots who will fly the RC-26 in April 2023, after it became clear that Congress was unlikely to adopt provisions to extend funding for the plane in March, according to an internal memo obtained. He said he could continue to carry out his duties until. by CNN.
In November, however, the pilots received new orders to sell their planes so that they could scrap the aircraft and obtain parts by the end of the year, rather than selling it to another organization outside the Pentagon as originally planned. The memo indicates that the aircraft was ordered to be scrapped.
Multiple sources characterized the shift as a “dramatic change” without warning by the Air Force. As a result, the military will lose about 80 pilots at a time it is already facing shortages across the force, sources say.
“The impact that this plane and these operators have had on reducing, disrupting and damaging illegal drug operations has been amazing and I am proud to have served alongside you,” said RC-26. One of the pilots wrote to several others in an email obtained by CNN.
Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who pilots the RC-26 as an Air National Guard pilot and is pushing to save the plane from extinction, told CNN that the shift is a move by the Air Force to demilitarize the plane. Like… ASAP to prevent a last-ditch effort to save it.
“That’s the only reason I can see they’ve decided to speed it up as quickly as ever,” Kinzinger, who will retire from Congress next month, said in a recent interview. He believes that despite the RC-26’s extraordinary role in helping law enforcement combat the flow of fentanyl into the United States, the Air Force has little interest in flying anti-drug missions.
Kinzinger also said he met with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall earlier this year to insist that the RC-26 remain operational, but was told in very harsh terms that it was impossible.
“He basically made it clear that the Pentagon’s business is not inherently the domestic drug problem, even though the Pentagon is one of the primary culprits,” Kinzinger said of the meeting. Told.
“We are the only capable border machine. We were pulled away from the border under Biden and they are killing us now,” he added.
Law enforcement officials around the country and other National Guard pilots who fly RC-26s have also offered Air Force leaders in Washington to keep the planes or offer them capable replacements, according to multiple sources familiar with these discussions. I appealed directly to them.
But despite voluntarily imposing limits on the types of operations that RC-26 National Guard pilots can fly, Air Force leaders said unmanned drones could meet that need, Kinzinger said. can be provided to
Air Force spokeswoman Anne Stephanek told CNN, “Given the lack of the Air Force’s unique RC-26B validated requirements, and the lack of dedicated funding to support the maintenance of the weapon system, the Air Force will We are retiring the aircraft,” he said.
Proponents of the aircraft, including Kinzinger, say the Air Force currently has no plans to replace the capabilities provided by the RC-26 if the program is shut down.
A law enforcement official, who previously spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, said removing RC-26 is now “flooding the market” with large amounts of fentanyl, allowing cops to fight against the carnage drug lords. Said it would take away the greatest advantage it had. American in progress.
“I know the Air Force is trying to say they have other options…but they don’t have the same capabilities,” he said, regularly assisting Air National Guard pilots flying RC-26s. said the law enforcement officer who asked for