The F-15E Strike Eagle is the first Air Force aircraft to prove it is compatible with the refurbished B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, Sandia National Laboratories announced on June 8. “We were able to test the B61-12 through all operational phases and we have extremely high ...
The Air Force wants to add more Airmen for space, sensing, command and control, and logistics, if upcoming military budgets let the service grow, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen “Seve” Wilson said May 20. Wilson also said plans for a larger bomber force will ...
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 ...
Air Force Global Strike Command will regularly rotate a small number of bombers to the Pacific and Middle East theaters to maintain a regular deterrence presence and to conduct combat operations as needed, but it will no longer operate out of bases such as al-Udeid ...
The Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels soared over New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania on April 28 in two sky-high salutes to the first responders and U.S. troops on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as essential employees keeping the ...
Two B-2s that are deployed to Europe as part of a bomber task force rotation flew alongside Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35As on March 18, marking the first time the stealth bomber flew alongside Dutch fifth-generation fighters. The bombers, deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, ...
The nation’s nuclear triad is working to get ahead of the new coronavirus outbreak by placing key personnel in “protective self-quarantines.” U.S. Strategic Command also is prescreening service members and depending on long-established redundancies in a community designed to operate independently, Adm. Charles Richard told ...
An undisclosed number of B-2 stealth bombers touched down March 9 at Lajes Field in Portugal for the latest bomber task force deployment to Europe. The Spirit bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing and 131st Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., deployed to ...
The Air Force’s decision to cut a major upgrade to the B-2 bomber’s defenses shows the military is accepting near-term risk to free up funding for future capabilities, the head of U.S. Strategic Command told lawmakers Feb. 13. The Air Force’s budget proposal winds down ...
The Air Force isn’t well-structured to carry out the National Defense Strategy, and in order to deter a major war, it must add more and stealthier aircraft, expand its use of unmanned systems, accelerate the development of new technology, and learn to operate from more ...
The years-old idea of an “arsenal plane,” a flying munitions truck that could accompany fighter jets and unmanned aircraft into battle, is now adapting to include the Air Force’s new technology pursuits. As the Air Force evolves its thinking on the prospect of an arsenal ...
One way the Air Force could come up with the $30 billion it says it’s shifting from “legacy” systems to urgent new priorities would be to retire eight major aircraft, including two bomber fleets, according to Todd Harrison, writing for the Center for Strategic and ...