AFA/AEF Almanac

Air Force senior statesmen explained the reasons they jointly sent a letter to Congress urging restoration of the E-7 Wedgetail and more F-35s to the fiscal 2026 defense budget.

Space Training and Readiness Command is “on a good path” to develop a digital environment where Guardians can train together across different locations against realistic threats in the next year or two, according to outgoing commander Maj. Gen. Timothy A. Sejba 

The Air Force is once again tightening its standards for dress and appearance, banning eyelash extensions for female Airmen and setting a minimum height for combat boots. 

U.S. Special Operations Command is once again slowing its purchases of the new OA-1K Skyraider II multipurpose counterinsurgency plane, as the Pentagon pivots its budget to prepare for a high-end conflict following two decades of wars in the Middle East.

Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.

Air Force B-52 program officials are gunning for a budget boost for new simulators that can adequately replicate challenging tasks crew members must perform on real-world bombing missions.

The T-7A Red Hawk next-generation jet trainer underwent a second round of extreme weather testing as the Air Force presses to get the T-7 into production so it can replace the aging T-38 Talon.

The first Trump administration moved to relieve the Space Force of its burden to monitor and warn civilian space operators about potential space traffic hazards. But now, just as the Commerce Department’s new Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) program is nearly ready, the second Trump administration is looking to…

A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”