Daily Report

Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of US Strategic Command, wants to avoid increased tension between the US and China over space. He said Tuesday during a speech at a strategic space symposium in Omaha, Neb., that he hopes that...

As we reported Wednesday, the A-10 has flown in tests with the synthetic fuel blend that the Air Force intends to introduce fleet-wide by early next decade. Jeff Braun, director of USAF’s alternative fuels certification office, tells the Daily Report...

Engineers on Oct. 30 completed the process of encapsulating the latest Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft into its launch vehicle payload fairing in preparation for its expected launch in space on Nov. 19. The procedure took place at Astrotech’s facility in Titusville, Fla., according to a Space & Missile Systems Center release Tuesday. This satellite, dubbed WGS-3, is the third Boeing-built WGS communications spacecraft for the Air Force. A Delta IV rocket fired from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., will carry it into orbit, where it will join the already operational WGS-1 and WGS-2. The Air Force currently plans to procure at least six WGS satellites to replace the Defense Satellite Communications System spacecraft. (For more on the WGS constellation, read Communications Difference.)

The General Electric-Rolls Royce team developing the F136 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter expects to resume ground testing in late December or early January following identification of the root cause of a test engine issue that arose in...

Software engineers with the 402nd Software Maintenance Group at Robins AFB, Ga., have devised the means for AC-130 gunships to fire more than one of their cannons simultaneously at the same target. They developed this “dual-targeting” capability in Robins’ gunship...

TSgt. Ruben Martinez, an investigator with the 78th Security Force Squadron at Robins AFB, Ga., on Oct. 30 received a Bronze Star Medal for his meritorious service in Iraq. Martinez was recognized for his work as a police transition team...

The first Romanian airmen to attend US Air Forces in Europe’s Kisling Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Kapaun AS, Germany, graduated at the end of October. Plutonier (technical sergeant equivalent) Diana-Cristina Mireuta, an air traffic controller at the 90th Airlift Base...

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to end homelessness among the nation’s veterans who make up a comparatively large portion those living on the streets. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Shinseki, speaking at...

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Oct. 28, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 28 27 55 13,934 CAS/Armed Recon 22 63 85 29,263 Airlift 157 157 40,282 Air refueling 40 40 14,438 Total 337 97,917 OIF=Operation Iraqi...