Congress is rekindling its fight with the Air Force over the fate of the RQ-4 Global Hawk fleet for fiscal 2021, as House lawmakers push back on plans to retire some of the high-flying intelligence aircraft that could be vulnerable to enemy fire. The Air ...
U.S. Air Forces in Europe moved its contingent of MQ-9 Reapers northeast to Estonia, where they can keep a closer eye on neighboring Russia. The contractor-owned, contractor-operated MQ-9s, related personnel, and support equipment moved to Amari Air Base in Estonia from their regular home of ...
The Air Force is looking to acquire a new fleet of hunter-killer drones to replace the MQ-9 Reaper circa 2031, according to a solicitation issued June 3. The new aircraft needs to be stealthy and autonomous, the better to survive and function in well-defended airspace, ...
The Air Force’s fledgling Rapid Sustainment Office plans to triple the number of aircraft using predictive maintenance algorithms in 2020, the service told Air Force Magazine. The Conditions-Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) program, which started last year, and related initiatives use sensors and algorithms to collect ...
Drone pilots and their sensor operator partners are used to life in enclosed spaces. They sit side-by-side in ground control stations, or cockpits, that measure less than 200 square feet, but those close quarters make social distancing in the age of coronavirus a challenge. Still, ...
The Pentagon’s top acquisition official anticipates the military will see a three-month setback across its major defense acquisition programs as the coronavirus pandemic throws contractors and program officials off their usual rhythm. “We do anticipate about a three-month slowdown at slower rates in terms of ...
The Air Force’s plan to cut MQ-9 Reaper production and some air patrols in the fiscal 2021 budget request would negatively impact the ability to conduct operations and provide enough over watch in hotspots in the Middle East and Africa, the top officials responsible for ...
Things are starting to look up at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. It’s been 17 months since Category 5 Hurricane Michael flattened the Florida Panhandle installation that is home to F-22s and about 4,000 people. Restoring the base to a new-and-improved condition over the next ...
Lawmakers on Feb. 26 signaled a harsh fight ahead over the Pentagon's plans to retire aging aircraft and shift spending from weapons systems to border wall protection. The Defense Department’s total $705.4 billion fiscal 2021 request looks to retire dozens of USAF aircraft. Defense Secretary ...
A General Atomics official said the company is surprised by the Air Force’s plan to stop buying new MQ-9 Reapers in fiscal 2020, after expecting to gradually wind down the production line. Chris Pehrson, General Atomics' vice president of strategic development, told Air Force Magazine ...
The Pentagon is asking Congress to move $3.8 billion, including nearly $1.5 billion in Air Force funding, from weapons programs to the border wall project. The Feb. 13 reprogramming request would shift $2.2 billion from already appropriated base budget funds for fiscal 2020 plus another ...
A touted $30 billion realignment of the Air Force's budget, with some wholesale retirements of major systems, did not materialize in the spending documents released Feb. 10. Instead, the Air Force is reducing its operational fleet to pay for technology upgrades emphasizing connectivity, agile logistics, ...