Daily Report

Air Force Undersecretary Erin Conaton is urging airmen to come forward and share their best ideas on how the Defense Department could operate more efficiently. “The Air Force strongly supports the [Defense] Secretary’s overall campaign for greater efficiency, and I...

The first Air Force Week of 2010 kicked off Tuesday in the Big Apple. It runs through Sunday. “New York City is the largest city in the nation and it’s a great opportunity for people in the city and the...

The number of US troops inside Iraq has dipped below 50,000 for the first time since the US invasion in March 2003. Reuters reported Tuesday that there are now 49,700 military personnel there, beating by one week the end-of-the-month deadline...

The Missile Defense Agency delayed Tuesday’s scheduled test of the Airborne Laser Test Bed over the Pacific Ocean after an issue arose with the platform’s tracking laser. This laser supports the engagements of the test bed’s high-power, missile-zapping chemical laser....

Raytheon expects to begin flight testing the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II system next year, company officials said Tuesday during a webcast with reporters. The air-delivered weapon, designated the GBU-53/B, features a tri-mode seeker that will enable it to attack moving or stationary surface targets in all weather conditions. Initial low-rate production is slated to begin in 2013, with full-rate production commencing in 2017, said Harry Schulte, Raytheon's vice president of Air Warfare Systems. The Air Force plans to procure 12,000 SDB II rounds, while the Navy will buy 5,000, said Schulte. Air Force F-15Es will employ the GBU-53, as will Navy F-35C and Marine Corps F-35B strike fighters. Raytheon on Aug. 9 won the rights to supply these bombs by beating a Boeing-Lockheed Martin team. (GBU-53/B fact sheet) (See also Raytheon Unveils SDB II from the Daily Report archives)

Airmen of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday welcomed members of the Kyrgyzstan military for an inaugural event to build ties between the two nations. During the course of the visit, the...

Airmen assigned to the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at JB Balad, Iraq, and others at Camp Victory have stepped up to bridge communications gaps that ground convoys face when they move troops around Iraq as part of the drawdown of...

Officials at Ramstein AB, Germany, are preparing to inactivate the 38th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in September. The small-sized C-130H unit, made up of airmen from the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, has operated with Ramstein’s active duty 86th...

Airmen at Tyndall AFB, Fla., now have a new fitness center. It’s not just any old place to pump iron. Rather, it’s the Air Force’s first facility built to meet the highest standards of energy efficiency and environmentally friendly design...

SSgt. Aleksandr Ilin, an airman assigned to the 42nd Electronic Combat Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., is facing a court martial for allegedly running a fraudulent Russian bride scam. The Arizona Daily Star reports that Ilin, 27, a native of...