Obscured by the attention focused on the Quadrennial Defense Review and various mobility studies is a Defense Acquisition Board review of the future of Global Hawk—the highly praised unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle that was rushed while still in development to the war in Afghanistan. The news is good, according to a decision memo from Kenneth Krieg, DOD’s acquisition point man who also serves as the chairman of the DAB. His memo states, “The board members agreed that this program is critical to providing a persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability to the warfighter.” Though that fact is completely obvious, it’s still good to hear a DOD official say it outright.

Krieg wants the Pentagon’s acquisition corps to “adopt a more agile strategy” that will let the Global Hawk UAV program advance more quickly. He cautions, though, that program officials must make certain that the enhancements to Global Hawk show “demonstrated...

The American public is more worried (see how much by clicking the box) about China’s drive for a stronger military than the Middle Kingdom’s growing economic power in Asia and the rest of the world. That is the conclusion of...

Air Combat Command has taken the logical step of transforming the tried-and-true, generate-and-fly-sorties operational readiness inspection into one that better matches the expeditionary Air Force. ACC officials say the ORI has evolved into practice for what airmen are facing today...

Some in the press and anti-war political circles have been scandalized by US military use of white phosphorus munitions in Fallujah, Iraq. Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USMC, tackled the subject head-on at the Nov....

The operation to secure American airspace, largely flown by Air National Guard forces, is still going strong. NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek says that since 9/11, ONE aircrews—fighters, tankers, and AWACS aircraft—have flown more than 40,000 sorties and responded to more...

A Really Good Use of Russian Taxes: Russia plans to install a new “state-of-the-art” air defense system by the start of 2006, reports the Moscow Times. The newspaper links the announcement of the new S-400 missile system with talk by...

Officials at Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass., say they have replaced almost all 111 fixed-base weather sensing systems—the FMQ-19—at USAF installations around the world under a $60 million contract. These sensors, which reside at the end of runways, provide...

SMSgt. Charles Bilbey recently became the first enlisted space systems operator to graduate from the Air Force Institute of Technology’s new enlisted program. He had to accept a three-year service commitment to do it, but the space-based infrared systems system...

Some 250 USAF aerial porters—about 100 are reservists—at Incirlik AB, Turkey, move an average of 60,000 pounds of cargo every day. Since June 1, say officials, the Total Force team has shifted about 87,000 tons into the Southwest Asia theater....

Ever wonder what happens to unexpended ammunition rounds downloaded from A-10 Thunderbolts—more familiarly called Warthogs? The Air Force uses a GFU-7 machine—called the Dragon—to separate brass from the ammo, returning unused rounds to a container to be reloaded. Playing the...

Air Force officials say test pilots and engineers at Edwards AFB, Calif., have completed testing that posed significant risk—shutting down one engine while taking off in a T-38 aircraft. Officials say the last time the USAF test crew ran single...

Air Force medical personnel from Andrews AFB, Md., Beale AFB, Calif., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif., recently teamed up to participate in a medical readiness exercise in Paraguay. For the USAF medics, the term exercise meant they provided medical care, along...

Air Force civil engineers have been busy constructing about 28 more tents in Southwest Asia to house some 1,300 airmen arriving in January. This is not your backyard campout-style enterprise. Officials say each site requires a survey, including use of...

Ten members of the Azerbaijani military toured the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center and the 507th Air Refueling Wing, both at Tinker AFB, Okla., to gain insight into Western style military installation. Tinker officials said demonstrating the interaction between the ALC...

November 28, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 11 3 – 14 CAS/Armed Recon 52 18 – 70 Airlift – – 135 135 Air refueling – – 31 31 Total 63 21 166 250 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...