Boeing has only delivered two KC-46 tankers to the Air Force so far in 2021, despite USAF officials saying they expect that total per month, as the service has slowed the delivery pace of the aircraft. Though there are more aircraft ready at Boeing’s facilities, ...
Air Mobility Command has big plans to overhaul its gray-tailed heavies for the high-end fight, turning airlifters into command and control assets and possibly putting air-to-air missiles on tankers. The long-term planning is a shift away from the idea of keeping mobility assets away from ...
The Air Force might look to a “family of systems” for strategic airlift in the future, as it looks beyond the C-17 to see the mobility needs in future high-end fights. Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost said ongoing wargames looking at ...
Two bases in Air Mobility Command are using virtual reality to teach Airmen how to talk to someone who might be suicidal. The Air Force in recent years has been grappling with high levels of suicide in its ranks. In 2019, the department ordered a ...
U.S. Transportation Command is looking too integrate the KC-46 into operations as soon as June, following Air Mobility Command’s move to free up the troubled tanker for ops to relieve stress on legacy refuelers. TRANSCOM boss Army Gen. Stephen R. Lyons recently visited KC-46 officials ...
President Joe Biden on March 6 nominated USAF Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—currently the U.S. military’s only woman with four stars—to command U.S. Transportation Command, and Army Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson for a fourth star and to take over as commander of U.S. Southern ...
The Air Force’s next generation tanker is starting to go operational, but in a very limited way, with the goal of freeing up older planes for combat missions. Air Mobility Command announced Feb. 24 it is phasing the KC-46 into operations, by making it available ...
Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost is expected to be nominated to lead U.S. Transportation Command, a pick originally expected last fall but The New York Times reported Feb. 17 that it was delayed based on concerns about the White House’s reaction at the time. Van ...
The Air Force recently resolved two Category 1 deficiencies on the troubled KC-46 tanker, both problems with the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit that could impact the safety of flight. However, the four remaining issues are still years away from being solved. The KC-46’s APU, located ...
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del.—When new Air Force and Air Mobility Command leaders called on Airmen to “accelerate change” and expand their capabilities beyond their sole duty, Airmen here were already working on two major efforts to broaden their skill sets. The 436th Airlift Wing ...
An artificial intelligence-powered mission-planning pod is slated to be the first capability deployed under the Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System concept, possible next year using technologies demonstrated in the series of combat experiments known as “on-ramps,” according to the Air Force’s top weapons buyer ...
The Air Force is moving forward with its “bridge tanker” project—the air-refueling aircraft acquisition formerly known as “KC-Y”—in a “full and open competition” to replace the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet. It is a stepping stone to a more futuristic tanker, Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Jacqueline ...