Russian aircraft on June 26 again intercepted U.S. aircraft in international airspace, this time USAF and U.S. Navy reconnaissance planes along with a refueling tanker operating in the Black Sea. The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video showing a Navy P-8, along with a ...
Nuclear modernization concerns are again on the table for fiscal 2021 defense policy negotiations, as House lawmakers raise issues about staffing, program delays, and how to use the weapons themselves. The Air Force’s three major nuclear weapon upgrade programs—the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, the Long-Range Standoff ...
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s defense spending plan for 2021 would give the Air Force and Space Force largely what they want, with some notable tweaks. “What this bipartisan bill does is straightforward: care for our troops; preserve peace through strength; and defend this great ...
A problem with an inert gas system meant to protect F-35 fighters if they're struck by lightning has led to a safety order to avoid thunderstorms. Lockheed Martin advised the Air Force to route F-35s around potential lightning conditions until the issue is resolved, the ...
Members of one House committee are calling for an investigation into Lockheed Martin for its handling of F-35 spare parts, while another has crafted language in its markup of the 2021 defense policy bill calling for an assessment of the Joint Strike Fighter’s troubled sustainment ...
Two aircraft maintenance squadrons from the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex in Georgia joined forces to memorialize 1st Lt. Kenneth “Kage” Allen, the 493rd Fighter Squadron's assistant chief of weapons and tactics who died June 15 when his F-15C crashed into the North Sea. Since ...
For the second time in a week, F-22 Raptors, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, intercepted two formations of Russian aircraft off the coast of Alaska, North American Aerospace Defense Command announced. The Russian aircraft—Tu-95 bombers, Su-35 fighters, and ...
An Air National Guard RC-26 aircraft that was tracked over the nation’s capital last week amid civil unrest following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in police custody belonged to the West Virginia Air National Guard, ANG spokesperson Lt. Col. Devin Robinson told Air ...
The Navy on June 1 awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to upgrade the F-35's Suppression and Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD/DEAD) capabilities. The contract provides $26.7 million to engineer changes to the F-35 for the "full up" mission, presumably to add weapons and/or ...
U.S. Africa Command says Russia deployed fighter jets to Libya to provide air support for state-sponsored mercenaries on the ground, and surveillance photographs show Moscow is intentionally hiding the origin of the aircraft. Images show MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-24 Fencer aircraft deployed to Al Jufra ...
A readiness task force spanning several major Air Force organizations is looking at new ways to measure fleet readiness other than the controversial mission-capable rate. After trying and largely failing to get certain fighter jet fleets to reach 80 percent mission-capable, or ready to enter ...
The United States on May 22 will start the six-month process of withdrawing from the 1992 Open Skies Treaty over objections that Russia isn’t complying with the arms-control pact. “I think we have a very good relationship with Russia, but Russia didn't adhere to the ...