Just five U.S. aircraft remain to be certified with the KC-46 tanker for operational missions designated by U.S. Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command said. The new tanker is certified for some 97 percent of mission taskings now, but it's unclear when the next capability release ...
Development of the KC-46 Pegasus tanker might have fared better if it had been a cost-plus, rather than a fixed-price program, and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said, "I'll take the hit" for that approach. Though progress has been slower, the KC-46 is now ready ...
Loads testing on the first B-21 Raider bomber is progressing well and matching computer predictions, and a formal rollout will closely follow completion of these tests and final equipment installs in the coming weeks, the program director said. Six B-21s are in production at Northrop ...
Purchases of new F-35 fighters, KC-46 tankers, and C-130 transports in recent years have made only a small dent in the age of the Air Force’s fleet, down to 29.1 years across all types after hitting 30.55 years in 2020. But the service operates eight ...
The fastest ways to hobble a major acquisition program are to put it through the funding instability of continuing resolutions or to apply constant major changes to the requirements once the program is well underway, panelists said on an AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies ...
Air Force F-15s and F-16s are now cleared to refuel from new KC-46A tankers using the air-to-air refueling boom, the head of Air Mobility Command, Gen. Mike Minihan, directed Oct. 15. The order is the third "interim capability release" since July clearing aircraft to refuel ...
The range of current Air Force weapons compels pilots of stealth aircraft to get too close to their targets, risking that they’ll be seen and shot down, Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Sep. 22. The service must have longer-range “fifth-generation weapons” ...
A B-2 bomber is lying damaged on the side of the runway at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., after a crash early Sep. 14. Air Force Global Strike Command is withholding information about the condition of the aircraft and the operational status of Whiteman’s sole ...
The Air Force needs to move quickly as it brings on the B-21 and modernizes the B-52 because operating four bombers at a time is not sustainable. This means the venerable B-1s and B-2s need to head to the boneyard ASAP, the service’s top planner ...
The Department of the Air Force is asking for $212.8 billion in fiscal 2022, of which the Air Force gets $156.3 billion, the Space Force $17.4 billion, with the rest referred to as "pass-through" funding not controlled by the department. The budget request focuses on ...
Air Force Magazine on May 25 flew aboard a KC-46 during a refueling flight as part of Air Mobility Command’s major exercise Mobility Guardian 2021 in Michigan, the first time an independent media outlet has flown on the new tanker. The KC-46 from McConnell Air ...
Sharply rising support costs among aging fleets are devouring money the Air Force needs to spend on new technology and new hardware, service Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom said. The Air Force has to figure out how to divest old hardware ...