2024 USAF & USSF Almanac: Leaders

Lockheed Martin's suggestion to upgrade the F-35 with technologies developed for the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter could come in a number of areas, several of which are already in hand.

Air Mobility Command, responsible for the Air Force’s airlift and tanker fleets, got some refueling help of its own from a commercial provider for the first time earlier this month. The milestone came when a KDC-10 tanker owned by Omega Air Refueling passed fuel onto a C-17 over California on April 10.

A dozen F-16s from Misawa Air Base are joining back-to-back exercises across the Philippines’ vast archipelago, including the northernmost major island less than 200 miles from Taiwan.

When acting Air Force Secretary Gary A. Ashworth rescinded service-wide “Family Days” last week citing the need to build readiness, he left it up to commanders, directors, and supervisors to decide if they would still permit extra days off. Here’s how Air Force major commands are taking that guidance.

Northrop Grumman took a $477 million loss on the B-21 bomber program in the first quarter; executives said the expense will both cover unexpected materials costs and make it possible to accelerate production of the aircraft, if that’s something the Air Force wants to do.

Lockheed Martin won’t protest the award of the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter to Boeing but is instead looking to port the technologies it developed for the program to the F-35 and the F-22.

The Air Force has tapped sites in Oregon to build its first two new Over-the-Horizon Radars, capable of detecting inbound missile threats from up to 4,000 nautical miles away. The service is hoping to start construction by the end of 2028.

Lockheed Martin has received a $180 million contract modification to convert three production-version jets to flight sciences test aircraft, in order to bolster the F-35 test force and ensure no future delays, the Pentagon announced.

Hundreds, or possibly thousands, of transgender service members have returned to work after two judges ordered preliminary injunctions blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ban of transgender service members and recruits. But their long-term future remains uncertain.