John Stillion

As the Space Force spends more time thinking about what it will need to look like in 2040, some of the service's generals say they can lay the groundwork for Guardians launching and operating in orbit while still meeting the demand for space superiority now. 

The 2026 National Defense Strategy, released in January, took a markedly different approach from the 2018 version produced by the President Donald Trump’s first administration. But don’t expect a similar overhaul in a new Nuclear Posture Review—the Pentagon has no plans to produce one.

NORAD scrambled a half-dozen American and Canadian fighters, along with six support aircraft, to intercept two Russian military aircraft that entered the Air Defense Identification Zone off the coast of Alaska and Canada on March 4.

With more than a third of the Air Force's entire E-3 AWACS fleet deployed to support the war against Iran, the ability to perform airborne battle management, or ABM, remains essential to the broader joint force, a new think tank report argues.

B-2 bombers dropped precision-guided bombs on Iranian targets this week, demonstrating the flexibility and utility of U.S. Air Force long-range strike capabilities. But not all weapons can be delivered by bombers, a fact Air Force leaders want to overcome as they develop next-generation aircraft and ...

Three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles went down over Kuwait on March 2 during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. campaign against Iran, but all aircrew ejected safely, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. U.S. Central Command confirmed the incident in a release ...

Anduril Industries flew its YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft with two different mission software systems during the same flight Feb. 24, an Air Force official revealed at AFA’s Warfare Symposium.

The Air Force plans to put Collaborative Combat Aircraft in the hands of Airmen to experiment with the semi-autonomous drones this summer, Gen. Dale R. White said Feb. 25 at AFA’s Warfare Symposium. 

Analysis of commercial satellite imagery indicates China held a major five-week air exercise encompassing eight bases and some 200 aircraft, across a 1,200-nautical mile swath of the country in late 2025.

Fiscal 2027 will be the “year of restoring our foundational readiness accounts,” Air Force Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier promised Feb. 24, with billions of dollars going to spare parts, flying hours, facility maintenance, and more.

Air Force leadership needs to have a "discussion" with Congress on the long-term future of the E-7 Wedgetail, Secretary Troy Meink said, after lawmakers blocked a Pentagon plan to cancel the program in 2026. Meink's remarks leave open the possibility that the Defense Department will ...

The Air Force and Northrop Grumman have struck a $4.5 billion deal to increase production on the B-21 Raider bomber by 25 percent. Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink announced the completed deal during his Feb. 23 keynote address to open AFA’s Warfare ...

The Department of the Air Force plans to establish around 27 "portfolio acquisition executives" and grant them far greater authorities and responsibilities for supporting and sustaining the systems they acquire, Secretary Troy E. Meink said in a keynote address to kick off AFA’s Warfare Symposium ...

First, General Atomics dubbed its YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft "Dark Merlin," consistent with the Air Force's tradition of naming attack aircraft after birds of prey. A few hours later, Northrop Grumman announced it is calling its YFQ-48A offering “Talon Blue.”

The Air Force has a new X-plane: The X-68A LongShot from General Atomics is an air-launched drone intended to carry additional air-to-air munitions. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been developing LongShot since 2021, and announced on Feb. 17 that flight testing could begin “as early as the end of 2026.”