Three B-1Bs flew a long-range bomber task force mission on Sept. 10, starting from Texas and transiting through the East Siberian Sea near the Arctic before touching down at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, to prepare for more missions, U.S. European Command announced. The three ...
Lockheed Martin is seeing a “resurgence” of demand for new F-16 fighters, now up to the Block 70 configuration, according to company Executive Vice President for Aeronautics Michele A. Evans. WIth a backlog of 130 jets, and several countries on the cusp of making orders, ...
More than 50 aircraft, including four different fighter types from three countries and two U.S. services, trained together in a large force exercise over the North Sea on Sept. 10. Exercise Point Blank 20-04 included U.S. Air Force F-16s from the 510th and 555th Fighter ...
Due to pandemic-related slowdowns, Lockheed Martin expects to deliver 122 F-35s in calendar year 2020—20 less than planned, company executive vice president for aeronautics Michele A. Evans said in a Sept. 9 interview. The tally will be gradually made up over two years, in order ...
Northrop Grumman will officially move ahead as the sole company in the Air Force’s competition to design a new intercontinental ballistic missile, under a $13.3 billion contract, the service said Sept. 8. Northrop’s design for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent will replace the 400 nuclear-tipped Minuteman ...
The Air Force doesn’t need to grow its stockpile of “tactical” nuclear weapons to complement the Navy’s newly deployed submarine-launched W76-2 warhead, the Pentagon’s top nuclear policy official indicated Sept. 2. “The Air Force is doing more than its fair share in this area,” Robert ...
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper continued his verbal offensive against China, accusing the country of “self-serving” behavior and a disregard for international laws, the same day the Chinese military fired medium-range ballistic missiles during a military exercise. China is undergoing an aggressive modernization plan to ...
Six B-52s trained alongside Royal Norwegian fighters in Northern Norway shortly after they deployed to Europe on Aug. 22. The task forces of B-52s deployed to RAF Fairford, England, from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., for a “long-planned training mission ...
While the Air Force has moved to put the F-15EX fighter program under contract, it's not obliged to buy the entire notional fleet of 144 of the jets, and could terminate the program at any time, according to Air Force Materiel Command. It may wish ...
The end of F-35 operational testing and declaration of full-rate production will likely come in March 2021, three months later than expected, Pentagon acquisition and logistics czar Ellen M. Lord told reporters at a Pentagon press conference on Aug. 20. She said the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper oversaw leadership changes for two combatant commands—U.S. Space Command and U.S. Northern Command—during back-to-back ceremonies at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., on Aug. 20. Army Gen. James H. Dickinson assumed command of SPACECOM from USAF Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, ...
The Air Force is crafting new policy that envisions more fluidity between conventional and nuclear weapons, as well as a broader range of options to keep others from using their own nuclear weapons. The U.S. has long treated conventional and nuclear warfare as separate concepts, ...