The first 747-8 aircraft has begun the modification process to become a VC-25B, or the next Air Force One. The process, which began Feb. 25, will include cutting out parts of the aircraft’s skin and structure in the forward and aft lower lobes to install ...
Air Force leaders are urging members of Congress to sit down with them in a classified setting so they can better understand the service’s thinking behind its fiscal 2021 budget request, which once again attempts to retire a host of legacy platforms to free up ...
Private aerial refueling may help ease the intense demand for tankers, as service leaders and U.S. Transportation Command debate the plan to retire legacy refuelers. The Air Force’s fiscal 2021 budget request calls for retiring 16 KC-10s and 13 KC-135s. Top USAF and TRANSCOM officials ...
The pressure on the aerial refueling community affects more than the iron on Air Force ramps. Total Force aircrews are part of the most stressed force element in U.S. Transportation Command, Army Gen. Stephen Lyons told the Senate Armed Services Community on Feb. 25. Lyons ...
The Air Force’s push to retire aging tankers to fund future capabilities will significantly impact current operations and the ability to fly current wartime missions, the head of U.S. Transportation Command wrote to lawmakers. In the command’s Unfunded Priority List sent to Congress on Feb. ...
The newest variant of the Air Force’s advanced, stealthy Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile-Extreme Range will start low-rate initial production next year, with deliveries beginning in 2024, according to the service’s budget request. The Air Force’s fiscal 2021 request includes $506 million total for ...
The European Deterrence Initiative—funding dedicated to building up the U.S. military presence in Europe and improving readiness across the continent—will take a large hit in fiscal 2021 if Pentagon planners get their way. The Defense Department’s budget requests includes $4.5 billion for the EDI, a ...
The Air Force says it will not divest its fleet of U-2 Dragon Lady planes in fiscal 2025, despite language to the contrary in the service’s 2021 budget request. Air Force Magazine first reported that the budget submission, unveiled Feb. 10, planned to start retiring ...
A touted $30 billion realignment of the Air Force's budget, with some wholesale retirements of major systems, did not materialize in the spending documents released Feb. 10. Instead, the Air Force is reducing its operational fleet to pay for technology upgrades emphasizing connectivity, agile logistics, ...
The Air Force has canceled the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon as a budget move, shifting emphasis to the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon. While both are Lockheed Martin programs, the HCSW was being developed by the Space division in Huntsville, Alabama, while the ARRW is being ...
The Defense Department's $740.5 billion budget request for fiscal 2021 increases spending on nuclear modernization, space, cyberspace, and multi-domain operations in preparation for great power competition, while proposing to cut dozens of legacy aircraft and reducing overseas contingency operations funding for the wars in the ...
The Air Force's total budget remains flat in fiscal 2021, with increased funding for space, research and development, and joint service connectivity, but declines in procurement and military construction. The budget funds an additional 1,500 Airmen, and includes a 3-percent pay raise for uniformed personnel ...