Defense Secretary Robert Gates remains steadfast in his opposition to a split-buy of aerial tankers for the Air Force even though the idea is gaining traction on Capitol Hill among lawmakers in key defense-oversight positions like Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.) and Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii). Meeting with reporters in the Pentagon Wednesday, Gates reiterated his stance that a split-buy is “bad public policy” and “bad acquisition policy” as well as a “bad deal” for taxpayers. (News conference excerpt) Procuring new tankers from both Boeing and Northrop Grumman, as opposed to choosing a winner from among them based on a fair competition for the KC-X program, would force the Air Force to maintain two different logistics trains and two kinds of training set-ups, Gates said. “Everything would have to be duplicated in the support structure,” he noted. He also reiterated that he has received no direction from the White House to delay the KC-X program by as much as five years, as was the rumor running amuck inside the Washington Beltway earlier this month.

The Air Force is now operating 34 combat air patrols of MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers in the US Central Command area of responsibility, a veritable explosion of unmanned activity compared to just a few years ago, Col. John Montgomery,...

The safety record of the Air Force’s MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles is getting better and doing so at an accelerated rate compared to the learning curves experienced with legacy manned fighters, says Col. John Montgomery, vice commander of the...

The Air Force’s planned launch of its second wideband global satcom satellite has been pushed back to no earlier than next week after the scheduled liftoff of a GPS satellite, which is currently set for March 24. Originally scheduled for...

A thorny military problem theorized back in 1992 is coming true, and making it essential that bombers and long-range aircraft not be placed on the defense chopping block, according to Barry Watts, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and...

In addition to the advent of area-denial and anti-access capabilities that military futurists foresaw in 1992 as a way to check US power and place a greater premium on long-range strike platforms (see above), that year was also ominous for...

Seventeenth Air Force, the air component of US Africa Command, along with its parent organization, is partnering with Air University to host a three-day symposium at Maxwell AFB, Ala., starting March 31 to bring together African subject-matter experts from across...

The US shouldn’t limit itself by getting into the mindset that an emerging space threat by a potential foe has to be met with a countering space system to deter hostile action effectively against US assets, says Air Force Gen....

Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute says he doesn’t think Boeing’s “stealth” F-15 proposal is aimed at getting the Air Force to buy more F-15s, which are a bit cheaper than F-22s. Rather, the target audience is foreign operators who...

The United Kingdom announced Wednesday that it will procure three F-35B aircraft for the F-35 program’s operational test and evaluation phase. UK Defense Secretary John Hutton announced the decision during a visit to Washington, D.C., to meet with US defense...

Mar. 17, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 26 10 36 3,018 CAS/Armed Recon 26 73 99 7,536 Airlift 150 150 9,925 Air refueling 47 47 3,456 Total 332 23,935 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...