China’s nascent identity as a nuclear-capable power and Russia’s nuclear modernization plan underscore the continued need for America’s nuclear triad, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said Dec. 10. “There's a myth out there that nukes are less relevant,” AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy ...
U.S. Air Force
Exhausted by almost 20 years of nonstop combat against violent extremism, the Air Force is seeking a new cycle of modernization and refurbishment, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Dec. 11. The new construct would routinely change out old gear and modernize ...
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 115th Fighter Wing identified Capt. Durwood “Hawk” Jones, 37, as the F-16 pilot killed when his jet crashed in Michigan on Dec. 8. Jones, from Albuquerque, N.M., was flying a routine training mission when the F-16 crashed in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s ...
The Senate passed the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill 84-13 on Dec. 11 after a bumpy few weeks for the key annual legislation. “We must protect freedom, democracy and peace, and support our troops. This is the heart of the National Defense Authorization Act, and ...
As the United States closes out its participation in the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, some in government are starting to consider what might come next for the Air Force unit that has handled those foreign surveillance flights for decades. Lawmakers earlier this month released a ...
The 115th Fighter Wing announced Dec. 10 that the F-16 pilot, missing since his jet crashed late Dec. 8, has died. “We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time,” 115th Fighter Wing Commander ...
The Air Force's top weapons buyer is worried the top-secret Next Generation Air Dominance program might become an “unintended casualty” of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers in the final draft of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill are cutting $70 million from the NGAD program for ...
The Department of the Air Force on Dec. 10 announced which Air Force Specialty Codes will be included in the fiscal 2021 Selective Retention Bonus program. The SRB program aims to keep experienced Air Force and Space Force troops in career fields that are undermanned ...
The U.S. military is on pace to meet the Jan. 15 deadline to withdraw forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, and though the head of U.S. Central Command said American forces can still meet their main goals, the “margins will be less” because of the smaller ...
In order to more effectively compete with Russia and China on the great-power stage, the United States must change the way it perceives—and plays—the game, Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said Dec. 10. “We're in a long-term, strategic competition with ...
Lawmakers want to quash the prospect of buying new armed overwatch planes for special operations troops or the Air Force in the next few years, as part of the final draft of the 2021 defense policy bill released this month. They seek to block SOCOM ...