So says retired Gen. Richard Hawley, former head of Air Combat Command, in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services airland panel Thursday afternoon. Hawley declared that the correct number of new F-22 fighters is “381 aircraft, not 187 or...

Rebecca Grant, director of the Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies, said yesterday that a simultaneous “dual buy” of two commercial tanker aircraft—now “on the table” in Congress—would be more affordable than the Defense Department suggests. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has...

The Defense Department doesn’t give enough weight to the worst-case scenarios affecting aerial tanker requirements, Rebecca Grant, director of the Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies, said yesterday. She spoke at a forum in Arlington, Va., (see above) on the new...

A graying fleet combined with a surging operations tempo has led to the perception amongst the Air Force’s maintainer corps that the wrench turners on the flightline are having to work a lot harder in the last few years to...

The Air Force announced yesterday that a Minuteman III ICBM from the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., will be removed from its silo and sent to the depot at Hill AFB, Utah, for testing and analysis after water...

Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that it has delivered the 50th C-5 transport aircraft to the Air Force that has been fitted with new avionics. The aircraft, delivered to Air Force Reserve Command’s 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland AFB, Tex., is...

Since late March, three Pacific Air Forces C-17s have been flying around-the-clock missions from Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, into Afghanistan to deliver special cargo in support of the US troop surge there. These PACAF assets include aircraft and personnel from the...

The Air Force has awarded industry teams led by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon contract extensions for additional risk-reduction work on the next-generation operational ground control segment for GPS satellites, which is called OCX, for short. The service expects to choose...

The Air Force announced last month that it is preparing its environmental assessment of the impact of potentially basing a new operational squadron of B-52H bombers at Minot AFB, N.D. The study of the environmental impact is required by US...

The Museum of Aviation on the grounds of Robins AFB, Ga., will open a new permanent exhibit on May 3 featuring an F-16 that formerly flew with the Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. That same day, the current Thunderbirds...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaApril 28, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 15 20 35 4,660 CAS/Armed Recon 24 79 103 11,570 Airlift 150 150 15,881 Air refueling 46 46 5,200 Total 334 37,311...