Custom Fit

National security space programs have suffered delays and cost overruns in recent years partly because they have too many customers, and greater success could be found by narrowing the scope of some programs. That’s the view of Gen. Robert Kehler,...

Poster Child

One glaring example of a fatal mismatch of strategic and tactical user requirements (see above) in a satellite system was the Space Radar, according to Air Force Space Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler. He told AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium in...

Hoffman Takes Over at AFMC

Gen. Donald Hoffman assumed command of Air Force Materiel Command Nov. 21 during a ceremony presided over by Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. “I’m honored to join this team,” said Hoffman of the 74,000 civilian...

Needed, a Space Vision

As the Pentagon prepares for the transition to the new Administration, the nation’s national security space enterprise faces several key challenges in that consolidation is changing the space industry, consensus about the country’s space future “remains elusive,” and leaders “have...

Strike Eagles Still Potent

The Air Force’s F-15E fighter is still a formidable weapon system and will remain so for decades, says Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff. “I have an appreciation for what happens in that airplane and admiration as well,” Schwartz the...

Proceed Cautiously

With questions still surrounding the future of the C-5 fleet, the Department of Defense should apply “careful planning” to ensure that C-17 production is not ended prematurely and then restarted at a substantial cost, says the Government Accountability Office in...

Hercules Reaches 30,000 Flight Hours

A C-130 transport deployed to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia surpassed 30,000 flight hours during a Nov. 23 mission. The aircraft, with serial number 63-7883, landed with zero defects and 30,002.5 hours on it after its historic...

USAF-RAF Reaper Maintainers Take Over at Balad

A joint Air Force-Royal Air Force aircraft maintenance unit from the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Creech AFB, Nev., recently deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, to sustain operations of the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles assigned to the 46th...

Count Us In

The multinational F-35 stealth fighter program has gotten a boost with last week’s decision by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence to recommend the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft to the nation’s parliament as the preferred option to be Norway’s future fighter capability....

What’s All the Buzz About?

Air Force Office of Scientific Research-sponsored engineers are exploring the ears on flies to see how they might influence the design of miniature acoustic sensors and sound localization techniques used with future mini unmanned aerial vehicles. Combined with vision technologies,...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaNov. 21-22, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 58 27 85 12,029 CAS/Armed Recon 92 120 212 33,591 Airlift 240 240 42,480 Air refueling 104 104 16,419 Total 641 104,519...