B-1Bs from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., integrated with Swedish Gripens for the first time during a long-distance bomber task force sortie to Europe that included fighter jets from multiple allied countries. The two B-1s, supported by a U.S. Air Force KC-135 from RAF Mildenhall, ...
The Air Force’s fleet in fiscal 2019 maintained an overall mission capable rate of 70.27 percent, a slight increase from the previous year. Although some key combat aircraft, such as the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, which hovers just over 50 percent, sustained low capability rates, service ...
The Air Force is reshuffling the oversight of its fighters, bombers, and mobility aircraft, separating fighters and bombers and putting tankers and the Open Skies recap program together with other airlift programs. The reorganization is meant to put greater emphasis on bombers and extract the ...
KC-135s and Airmen from the 349th Air Refueling Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., lived in quarantine and dramatically changed their routine before heading to the Middle East earlier this month. The early April deployment to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, is an example ...
The impact of the new coronavirus outbreak has been mixed for USAF flying units, with many close to the fight maintaining a high operations tempo, while training at home takes a major hit that could have lasting impacts to readiness. However, the service has faced ...
Air Force researchers and mobility crews recently evaluated six airframes over the course of two weeks in an effort to better understand the airflow of mobility aircraft in case there is a need to airlift a large number of COVID-19 positive passengers. Researchers placed systems ...
F-22s, supported by a KC-135 Stratotanker and an E-3 Sentry, intercepted two Russian IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft near Alaska on April 8, the latest in a series of similar incidents in the region. The Raptors intercepted the Russian propeller-driven planes in the Bering Sea, north ...
Air Mobility Command is pursuing a contract for privately operated tankers to meet the unrelenting need for booms in the air as the service proposes cutting 29 KC-135s and KC-10s. The command is wrapping up a feasibility study on the plan this month with the ...
U.S. Air Force F-22s and Canadian CF-18s intercepted two Russian Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft north of Alaska on March 9, North American Aerospace Defense Command announced. The fighters, which were supported by an E-3 Sentry AWACS and a KC-135 Stratotanker, escorted the Russian aircraft for ...
Air Mobility Command's gray tail airlifters and tankers will participate in a series of Joint All-Domain Command and Control experiments this year. The efforts, part of the series of Advanced Battle Management System experiments and other exercises, aim to show how aircraft such as C-17s ...
Private aerial refueling may help ease the intense demand for tankers, as service leaders and U.S. Transportation Command debate the plan to retire legacy refuelers. The Air Force’s fiscal 2021 budget request calls for retiring 16 KC-10s and 13 KC-135s. Top USAF and TRANSCOM officials ...
The pressure on the aerial refueling community affects more than the iron on Air Force ramps. Total Force aircrews are part of the most stressed force element in U.S. Transportation Command, Army Gen. Stephen Lyons told the Senate Armed Services Community on Feb. 25. Lyons ...