The Air Force is now flying MQ-9 Reaper operations from Romania, in a new mission that aims to provide 24/7 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage in the Balkans. U.S. Air Forces in Europe based the Reapers at the Romanian base in Campia Turzii earlier this ...
The withdrawal of about 700 U.S. forces from Somalia required a massive nocturnal airlift, movement of fighters and tankers from the Middle East, and other overwatch from drones and other special operations aircraft, all planned and executed within weeks. The mission, called Operation Octave Quartz, ...
The Air Force saw 72 aviation accidents over the course of fiscal 2020—up from 62 in fiscal 2019—including an A-29 crash that partially disabled an American Airman, according to Air Force Safety Center data. Thirteen of the 72 total accidents caused injury or death. The ...
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett visited Niger and Nigeria Jan. 4-5 to increase USAF cooperation with the two countries, including the deliveries of new aircraft. On Jan. 4, Barrett visited Niger, where USAF has operating bases, to participate in a ceremony for the delivery of ...
Air Force MQ-9s have a new permanent home in Romania. U.S. Air Forces in Europe announced Jan. 4 that Reapers and about 90 Airmen are now based at Romanian Air Force Base 71 at Campia Turzii. The surveillance and attack drones are assigned to the ...
The Air Force must make the mindset change from focusing just on preparation for conflict to day-to-day competition with Russia, China and other adversaries, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Dec. 11. The service will be constantly vying for superiority in the ...
The F-15E Strike Eagle can now carry the Small Diameter Bomb II in combat, after software faults and other problems repeatedly delayed the program for years. Air Combat Command approved Raytheon Technologies’ air-launched, precision-guided munition, also known as StormBreaker, for use on Sept. 23. The F-15E ...
Lawmakers have approved a slew of funding shifts the Pentagon requested in June to pay officers, avoid hiring freezes in the Department of the Air Force, and set up U.S. Space Command, among other priorities. The Defense Department routinely asks the House and Senate Appropriations ...
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 ...
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 ...
MQ-9 Reapers, the workhorse drone of America’s two-decade counterterrorism fight in the Middle East and Africa, want to show they’re getting a second wind. The MQ-9 schoolhouse at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., recently rewrote its syllabus to prepare Reaper pilots and sensor operators for ...
An MQ-9 Reaper assigned to the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., was damaged when it skidded off the runway on Sept. 2, the base announced. The incident remains under investigation.