The Air Force’s F-22 fighter, C-17 airlifter and C-130J transport all got a thumbs up July 20 from the Senate Appropriations Committee. In approving a $453.5 billion fiscal 2007 defense budget, the panel fully funded 20 Raptors, 12 C-17s, and...

In the defense appropriations measure approved on July 20, Senators took a heavy swipe at some troubled space programs. They chopped $230 million from the Transformational Satellite Communications program “due to concerns over the amount of program growth,” said the...

The Pentagon had some heavy-hitting aircraft in Britain this week at the Farnborough International Air Show. Setting the pace was a USAF B-1B bomber, which thundered over the show at an altitude of 500 feet three times per day. The...

Our thanks go out to David Rennie of London’s Daily Telegraph for clueing us in to the anger of those Icelanders. Rennie’s story, published today, is titled “American Pullout Leaves Iceland Defenceless.” It says the US “stunned the country in...

Denmark now stands as the first nation openly identified as having signed a letter of intent to join a team of NATO nations buying Boeing C-17 transports. Boeing confirmed the letter to Reuters at the Farnborough Air Show near London,...

Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley–chief of the Air National Guard–told a special commission that Washington needs to investigate ways to increase the appeal of serving in the National Guard and Reserves. McKinley’s remarks came at a July 19 at a hearing...

Sen. John McCain, a frequent Air Force critic, aired fresh doubts about USAF’s two new fighters, noting, “a great question now arising about the affordability of both the F-22 and the (F-35) Joint Strike Fighter because of cost escalations.” The...

Larry Lawson–the executive vice president and general manager of the F-22 program for Lockheed Martin–has offered some of the recent performance results of the Fifth Generation stealth fighter. During Operation Northern Edge in Alaska, he said, F-22s dominated air-to-air engagements,...

Members of the powerful Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee have decided to allot no money to preserve 18 attrition reserve B-52H bombers residing at Minot AFB, N.D. The Air Force has asked Congress to grant permission to put these 18 bombers...

Cooperative Cope Thunder AEW Stands Up: More than 800 American military personnel and allied forces arrived this week at Eielson AFB, Alaska for the start of Cooperative Cope Thunder 06-03, the Air Force’s largest multilateral air combat exercise in the...

Barksdale AFB’s 93rd Bomb Squadron, 917th Reserve Wing, has become the first B-52 squadron to complete necessary training requirements for combat use of the LITENING-AT targeting pod. The units crews passed that milestone on July 13. The targeting pod, used...

Air Force members are now engaged in the partial evacuation of Americans from war-wracked Lebanon. In a July 19 release, USAF said three Air Force MH-53 Pave Low helicopters are at work transporting US citizens from the Arab nation to...

According to US Central Command, a deployed C-17 airlifter unit, the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, has hauled in more than 100 tons of food, water, tents, and other supplies to Akrotiri, Cyprus in anticipation of the arrival of Americans brought...

The Air Force at 3:14 a.m. July 20, local time, successfully launched a Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. It was unarmed and fitted with three dummy re-entry vehicles. The unarmed RVs flew 4,200 miles before hitting their pre-determined...

The director of Army Aviation, Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Mundt, warns that budget cuts currently planned by Congress could deal a serious blow to progress of the Air Force-Army Joint Cargo Aircraft. According to a July 19 American Forces Press...

USAF evidently believes that relocation of its 46th Test Wing from Eglin AFB, Fla., to Edwards AFB, Calif., would cut net spending by more than half a billion dollars. According to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), he was given that explanation...

USAF says it is on track to launch in November the third of three satellites in the current Defense Meteorological Satellite Program constellation. Officials at Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., expressed their optimistic review...

During a briefing at this week’s Farnborough Air Show, Boeing announced a new program designed to extend the service life of the Air Force’s premier tactical airlifter–the C-130 Hercules–for up to 30 years. The Total Life Extension program will address...

Northrop Grumman announced this week that it has received a $90 million contract from the Air Force to integrate the radar onto the high-altitude Global Hawk UAV. Testing on the pod that will house the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program...

US Central Command’s Deployment and Distribution Operations Center has begun a test to see whether commercial air cargo transport measures up to the military task in Iraq and Afghanistan, US Transportation Command Announced this week. The test began July 17...

A Pakistani Air Force C-130 came to the krecent Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Britain adorned with images from the earthquake relief effort from October 2005. The crew specifically thanked Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne for his...

Lockheed Martin and its F-35 industry partner, BAE Systems, announced this week that the two defense firms have signed an agreement setting out how to support Britain’s Lightning II fighters. The deal, announced at the Farnborough Air Show, declares that...

The 23rd Fighter Group, currently based at Pope AFB, N.C., soon will begin sending group personnel to Moody AFB, Ga., to prepare for the transfer of the unit’s personnel and equipment there, according to the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. An officer...

July 19, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 13 7 20 CAS/Armed Recon 41 26 67 Airlift 150 150 Air refueling 38 38 Total 54 33 188 275 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance