An MQ-9 on Sept. 10 doubled its missile capacity, carrying eight AGM-114 Hellfires for the first time, thanks to a new software upgrade. The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron flew the Reaper at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., demonstrating the new capability, which is part ...
U.S. Strategic Command is testing out parts of its future nuclear command, control, and communications enterprise in the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System demonstrations, an official tells Air Force Magazine. STRATCOM’s NC3 Enterprise Center got up and running early last year to better plan ...
Bipartisan lawmakers on Sept. 30 blasted the Pentagon for failing to provide details of its planned force structure changes in Europe, saying the proposed removal of almost 12,000 troops from Germany could harm U.S. alliances. Under the proposal, first announced in July, DOD would shift ...
The Senate voted 84-10 on Sept. 30 to pass a stopgap spending measure that would keep the federal government open through Dec. 11, pending President Donald J. Trump’s likely approval. Congress opted not to finish the appropriations process before fiscal 2021 begins Oct. 1, so ...
The Department of Air Force on Sept. 15 approved more tweaks to the dress and appearance rules for Airmen and space professionals in an effort to boost inclusion in both services, according to a Sept. 29 release. The changes include higher hair bulk standards for ...
Starting Oct. 1, the Department of the Air Force will only pay for $3,750 of college tuition for Airmen and space professionals each fiscal year, regardless of whether they’re engaged in undergraduate or graduate studies, according to a Sept. 29 release. That's a decrease of ...
The Air Force Research Laboratory wants to make its budding swarm of semi-autonomous weapons smarter. “Golden Horde” aims to connect munitions like Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb I in a swarm that can work through a list of targets on its own, and that could redirect ...
Military troops in the Space Force will someday deploy to orbit, one of the service's top operations officials said Sept. 29. “At some point, yes, we will be putting humans into space,” Maj. Gen. John E. Shaw, head of the Space Force's Space Operations Command ...
Air Forces Central Command and its U.S. Navy counterpart recently teamed up for a joint air operations in support of maritime surface warfare (AOMSW) exercise in the Persian Gulf, according to a Naval Forces Central Command release. Exercises like the one held from Sept. 23-24 ...
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s robotic pilot has returned to the sky, following a mishap that grounded the system last year. The AFRL Center for Rapid Innovation and DZYNE Technologies Incorporated’s ROBOPilot flew for about 2.2 hours on Sept. 24 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. ...
California Air National MQ-9s have flown the length of the entire state, helping to coordinate responses to more than 24 fires that have been burning in the past two months. As of Sept. 28, there have been 7,982 total wildfires, burning more than 3.6 million ...
The COVID-19 pandemic inspired the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to pioneer a new kind of USAF birthday celebration: a drive-in Air Force ball. The idea to transition the ball from an in-person party to a drive-in celebration stemmed from unique ...