The Air Force's F-35A fleet has become its third-largest fighter fleet—larger than that of the F-15C/D or E variants and larger than the F-22 Raptor fleet—and the type will likely surpass 250 air frames by the end of August, according to the Joint Program Office. ...
A B-52 from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., flew a 28-hour mission to the Pacific on July 2, linking up with two Navy carrier strike groups in the South China Sea in a show of strength in international waters. The B-52 from the 96th Bomb ...
The F-16 pilot killed in the June 30 crash at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., has been identified as 1st Lt. David Schmitz. Schmitz, assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron at Shaw, was flying a local training sortie as his squadron is preparing to deploy ...
The Air Force awarded contracts to 18 additional companies this week to develop and connect a plethora of technologies as part of the Advanced Battle Management System, after the first round of 28 contracts went out May 29. The ABMS network looks to connect the ...
Bigger fleets of aircraft are easier and less costly per aircraft to manage than small ones, but that may change as the Air Force moves toward the new Digital Century Series, Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr. said July 1. The ...
Congress wants to pump the brakes on U.S. Special Operations Command’s effort to buy a new plane for armed overwatch in remote areas, after many lawmakers recently supported a similar Air Force program. Lawmakers call on Pentagon leadership to describe why SOCOM would need such ...
The Air Force formally accepted delivery of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Distributed Mission Training capability, following a capstone event at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., where four Joint Strike Fighter pilots flew alongside F-22s, F-16s, and an E-3 Sentry virtually for the first time. The DMT ...
A pilot was killed late June 30 when an F-16CM crashed upon landing during a routine training mission at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. The crash occurred at the base around 11:30 p.m., with videos posted online showing emergency crews attempting to put out a ...
If Turkey sells the U.S. the advanced S-400 air defense system it bought from Russia, Ankara could resume its lucrative role in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, under provisions inserted in the Senate's version of the 2021 defense policy bill by Sen. John Thune ...
The head of the House Armed Services Committee calls himself an optimist. This year, he also has to be a realist. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), tried to pack Democratic priorities into his committee’s version of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill—though not enough, according to ...
Three F-35A Lightning IIs arrived at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, on June 25, doubling the size of the base’s F-35A fleet. Eielson will receive 48 more aircraft by December next year, giving Alaska the highest concentration of combat-coded, fifth-generation fighter aircraft of any state. ...
Air Education and Training Command’s RPA Training Next effort wants to overhaul how the Air Force builds future RPA pilots and sensor operators. More specifically, it wants to give these Airmen more personalized journeys through the RPA training pipeline instead of making them adhere to ...