The vast majority of Defense Department aircraft, including all of the military’s most advanced fleets, fell short of their mission readiness goals over the past decade, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. Only three of 46 different types of aircraft that the GAO ...
F-16s and Airmen from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, deployed to the Middle East last week under a “dynamic force employment” concept aimed at quickly moving forces around the world. The Vipers, from the 480th Fighter Squadron, deployed Nov. 12 to Al-Dhafra Air Base, United Arab ...
The Senate Appropriations Committee wants to keep a closer eye on the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program. Lawmakers added multiple provisions to the committee’s version of the fiscal 2021 defense spending bill that call for more reports on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well ...
Senate appropriators on Nov. 10 released a $696 billion defense funding bill for fiscal 2021 that offers the Department of the Air Force less money than it requested for most spending accounts. The proposal comes more than a month into the fiscal year, as the ...
About 80 aircraft have come together for Checkered Flag 21-1—a large-scale, air-to-air exercise off the coast of Florida. The exercise, which focuses on integrating fourth- and fifth-generation fighters in several scenarios, runs until Nov. 14 at Tyndall Air Force Base. Participating aircraft include Tyndall’s F-22s ...
Lt. Col. Jared “Vic” Santos, 388th Fighter Wing special projects manager, recently became the first USAF Airman to accrue 1,000 flying hours in the F-35A Lightning II fighter jet, the wing announced. Santos hit the milestone during an approximately two-hour, “four-on-six tactical intercept” training sortie ...
F-35As and Airmen from the 421st Fighter Squadron returned home to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, within the past week after a six-month deployment for combat operations in the Middle East. The 421st was the third Hill squadron in a row to be tasked with ...
Arctic survival kits are the newest feature on the Air Force's F-35A Joint Strike Fighters at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The F-35 was not designed to carry sleeping bags and other equipment to protect pilots if they need to eject into the brutal Arctic ...
The Air Force has asked industry to submit papers on concepts and technologies underlying a new generation of small, highly stealthy and flexible ground attack munition, called the Global Precision Attack Weapon. The GPAW is supposed to be effective against hard and deeply-buried targets. The ...
F-35As from the U.S. Air Force’s 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and F-35I “Adir” fighters from the Israeli Air Force’s 116th Squadron teamed up for Enduring Lightning III, a joint offensive counter air training exercise over Israel, on Oct. 12, according to an Air Forces Central ...
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators are urging the Trump administration to impose economic sanctions on Turkey over buying and activating Russian S-400 Triumf air defense systems, concerned that Turkey is allowing Russia to access sensitive data on NATO aircraft. In an Oct. 7 letter ...
Excessive landing speed was the primary cause of the May 19 crash of an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., though faulty flight control logic, the helmet mounted display, the jet's oxygen system, and improper training and were all contributing factors, according to an ...