Daily Report

The Air Force and its industry partners successfully launched the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carried the sophisticated, Lockheed Martin-built military communications satellite into space...

The Air Force provided ABC News with "a wealth of specific information" on the F-22 fighter, but the news network "either omitted or glossed over these facts" in its televised report on the aircraft, stated service officials in a formal response to the network's final product that aired on May 2. ABC News—which claims "the Air Force declined to participate" in interviews it requested with top service officials—asserted that the F-22 was a waste of taxpayers' money and was nothing more than a very expensive stunt aircraft to delight viewers at air shows. It also questioned why the Pentagon has not used the F-22 in combat and asserted that "the enemy the F-22 was designed to fight—rival, super-sophisticated fighter jets in great numbers—simply doesn't exist." The Air Force's May 4 response states that the nation did not employ F-22s in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because they were not needed. However, F-22s have recently deployed to Southwest Asia for the second time to support regional partnerships, have served in a "similar capacity" in the Pacific, and have protected US airspace, facts that ABC News ignored, said the Air Force. Continue

An F-16 fighter assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, crashed during a training mission, announced wing officials. The mishap took place on May 4 at the Utah Test and Training Range. The pilot successfully ejected, said...

The last F-22 built for the Air Force arrived at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, completing the beddown of the Raptor fleet. Lt. Col. Paul Moga, commander of Elmendorf-Richardson's 525th Fighter Squadron, piloted the jet on its eight-hour, non-stop flight from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Marietta, Ga., on May 5. "It's good to have this jet where it belongs," said Moga, who will fly this aircraft as the squadron's flagship. The Air Force accepted Raptor 4195 on May 2 during a ceremony in Marietta. (Elmendorf-Richardson release)

Retired Maj. Gen. Charles “Ron” Henderson, who has been serving as deputy assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration since 2008, died on May 3 in Clifton, Va., after a lengthy illness, announced Air Force officials. He...

US officials should pay attention to how the People’s Liberation Army Air Force is training and organizing its forces and not just focus on the Chinese air arm’s new aircraft programs and modernization efforts, said two veteran China analysts. The...

Hawker Beechcraft, locked in the competition to win the Air Force’s Light Support Aircraft contract, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company announced on May 3 that it had reached an agreement “with a significant number of its senior secured...

Air Forces Northern airmen are participating in Ardent Sentry 2012, a US Northern Command-sponsored exercise testing their ability to support civil authorities in response to a natural disaster. The week-long exercise, which runs through May 9, simulates a tropical storm...

European Aviation Safety Agency officials certified the airworthiness of Airbus Military’s A400M airlifter, issuing the four engine propjet an “initial type certificate,” announced the company. “Achieving civil and military certification of the A400M . . . is an immensely challenging...