Only one-fifth of US Southern Command's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance requirement is being met, and much of that doesn't even come from military hardware. SOUTHCOM boss Adm. Craig Faller told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 30 that of the roughly 20 percent of ...
With two pre-solicitations, the Air Force has begun the process of buying the first eight F-15EX fighters, meant to complement the existing fleet of aging F-15C/D fighters. The new jets will have General Electric F110-129 engines, and USAF is also looking to "refresh" its F-15C/Ds ...
Air Force Reserve Command is mulling where to place four newly funded C-130Js, prioritizing two wings with specialized missions. The fiscal 2020 defense spending bill provided an additional $730 million for 8 C-130J aircraft, including four for the Air Force Reserve and four for the ...
Combat platforms are taking a back seat to all-domain command and control in the fiscal 2021 defense budget, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said Jan. 27. Wargames have shown that connecting all platforms with all other platforms and sensors has a bigger ...
US strike aircraft dropped more bombs in Afghanistan in 2019 than any other year since at least the surge in 2009. US aircraft flew 2,434 strike sorties, releasing 7,423 weapons, according to statistics released Jan. 27 by Air Forces Central Command. These totals are higher ...
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein confirmed an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node crashed in Afghanistan on Jan. 27, but said it’s still unclear if there were any casualties. US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a statement it does not appear ...
An Air Force-affiliated technology accelerator on Jan. 24 named the startups chosen to participate in 2020, its third group since 2018. The “Air Force Accelerator Powered by Techstars” program picks small businesses that offer products that can benefit troops as well as a broad swath ...
The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone finished its fourth flight test in Arizona on Jan. 23, coming back from a mishap that occurred during its previous test in the fall. Valkyrie, an Air Force Research Laboratory program with manufacturer Kratos Defense, is being designed as a possible ...
The Air Force is creating a Navigational Warfare Laboratory to study how military aircraft could still get around if an adversary attacks their GPS signal or other positioning, navigation, and timing systems. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will host the lab, which is slated to be up ...
Turkey will be mostly out of the F-35 by March, and all the way out by the end of 2020, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Ellen Lord said Jan. 14. Lord said there’s been no discussion with Ankara about the disposition of four F-35s owned ...
An MQ-9 Reaper’s engine design led the drone to crash about 20 minutes after takeoff while deployed overseas in September 2018, a recently released Air Force accident investigation concluded. “Engineering analysis of the data logs, engine components, and propeller governor, as well as reports from ...
More than 50 aircraft from three US bases took to the air over Kadena AB, Japan, Jan. 10 for a complex joint exercise simulating an attack on the largest USAF base in the Pacific. “Kadena was defending itself today,” explained Capt. Brian Davis, the exercise ...