Air Force officials plan to use synthetic fuel blends by 2011 which is made up of 50/50 blend of synthetic and petroleum gases.   

The Air Force program aims to help the environment and to use a fuel produced domestically.  Air Force officials are still in the process of evaluating and certifying the alternative fuel derived from natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process and it will be enforced for use on every Air Force aircraft.  Air Force officials have previously tested the fuel blend in the B-52 Stratofortress and the C-17 Globemaster III, which were one of the first aircraft to use the synthetic fuel.  A B-1B Lancer from the 9^th Bomb Squadron became the first Air Force aircraft to fly at supersonic speed using an alternate fuel which flew over Texas and New Mexico on March 19, 2008.

 The Air Force is the single largest user of aviation fuel, with an estimated use of 3 billion gallons per year.  Synthetic fuel created using the FT process costs an estimated $30 to $50 less per barrel than its petroleum counterpart. Alternative fuels can be produced from domestically available hydrocarbon products like natural gas, coal and shale and then gasified and converted into any number of liquid fuel products.  The use of synthetic fuel is not only cost efficient and that, this innovative domestically-produced fuel will also help alleviate our dependence on foreign energy sources.  These alternative fuels also burn cleaner which reduces combustion-related emissions and particulates in the air, without compromising performance.

The wreckage of HMAS Sydney that sank with all 645 men aboard in a fierce World War II battle was discovered 66 years after it sank on November 19, 1941, after a grueling battle with the German vessel DKM Kormoran in the worst naval disaster  in Australia’s history. 

All 645 sailors aboard the Sydney were lost and its final resting place remained elusive until sonar technology advanced enough to scour waters more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) deep.  The Kormoran also sank but 317 of its member crew survived and rowed lifeboats to the Australian coast, being held prisoners. 

Australians were long been unconvinced that the Sydney could have been lost to the German auxiliary cruiser and for years, various theories have emerged such as a Japanese submarine was the real culprit why the Sydney sank or that the Kormoran’s crew machine-gunned Australian survivors. 

In a news conference, Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Shalders with PrimeMinister Kevin Rudd st