F-15E Strike Eagles and Airmen from RAF Lakenheath’s 492nd Fighter Squadron deployed to the Middle East in early May as part of ongoing combat operations in U.S. Central Command. The undisclosed number of aircraft and personnel from the squadron, nicknamed the “Bolars,” deployed to the ...
Multiple companies who faced off in the Air Force’s light attack experiment will again compete for a similar contract from U.S. Special Operations Command. Textron Aviation, Air Tractor, and Leidos are offering aircraft for a three-phase armed overwatch competition that ends with live-fly demonstrations in ...
A new Government Accountability Office report on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter warns of potential further delay beyond the already-postponed full-rate production decision expected next March. The delays could stem from quality standards not being met and because alternative vendors for all parts once made ...
Air Force Special Operations Command is ordering a third A-29 Super Tucano to train foreign troops, aircraft manufacturer Sierra Nevada Corp. said May 11. The A-29 is one of two light attack platforms the Air Force bought for limited use after declining to turn the ...
The Air Force no longer requires student pilots to conduct formation landings in T-38s, following a crash at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., that killed a student and instructor. The night before the Nov. 21, 2019, crash, the instructor and two supervisors in the training ...
Within just four days, the Air Force sent nuclear-capable bombers on long-distance training flights to Europe and the Pacific, while B-1s flew their own long-range missions in both regions. On May 11, B-1s from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., flew from their home base to ...
The Air Force will shortly launch its effort to buy Skyborg drone prototypes, according to the official running the unmanned wingman program. The service will begin soliciting aircraft this month and plans to award contracts to the winning designs by the end of the summer, ...
Airmen and F-35s from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, returned home on May 7 from the aircraft type’s second combat deployment to the Middle East. The Airmen and aircraft deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, ...
Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. is arguing for a wholesale refresh of the Air Force’s roles and missions as he prepares to take the service’s top job. Brown, a decorated combat pilot, faced the Senate Armed Services Committee May 7 during ...
The Air Force inspector general is conducting a sweeping review of the service’s readiness assessments and reporting, the year after a Pentagon-wide order directed the armed forces to improve the state of key fighter fleets, according to the service’s presumptive next Chief of Staff. Air ...
The X-37B spaceplane will embark on its sixth mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on May 16, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said. The secretive, unmanned orbital test vehicle, which will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, is notching new ...
Defense Secretary Mark Esper acknowledged that heavy government spending on anti-Coronavirus efforts could suppress defense spending in coming years, and said the Pentagon will prioritize modernization programs over legacy systems if the budget flattens. There are "dozens" of legacy programs Esper said he would be ...