The Air Force expects that the 17 B-1B bombers it's asked to retire will be the last until the type "shakes hands" with its replacement, the B-21, early in the 2030s, Lt. Gen. David Nahom, USAF's top planner, said April 16. The B-1 will get ...
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 ...
Boeing on April 13 reopened some of its production lines, including work on the Air Force's new KC-46 tanker, which had been closed for weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company also is restarting work on the Navy's P-8 at its Renton facility and ...
A new-design aircraft to fill the arsenal plane concept is in the offing at Air Force Global Strike Command, according to its commander, Gen. Tim Ray. In a press telecon, he discussed the concept, along with USAF's preferred air-launched hypersonic missile, recovery in the B-1 ...
The Air Force’s new combat rescue helicopter recently faced extreme temperatures and winds to prove the HH-60W Jolly Green II can be sustainable in any environment. The helicopter on April 2 finished a month-long test process at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in which it ...
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 ...
The Pentagon has started a daily dialogue with its top vendors as it attempts to measure and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the defense industry. Meanwhile, Boeing and Lockheed Martin said production on major acquisition systems like the KC-46 tanker and F-35 ...
The F-35’s troubled Autonomic Logistics Information System has somewhat improved over the past five years, but still causes significant challenges for the Joint Strike Fighter enterprise every day, according to a new Government Accountability Office report published March 16. The F-35 program office hopes that ...
Either Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, or Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., will be the first base to host the B-21 Raider bomber. The service announced the start of environmental impact analyses in both locations to see which will be first to operate the Raider. ...
Full-rate production may slip a little further as initial operational test and evaluation and the integration of the F-35 into a virtual wargaming environment play out, program executive officer Lt. Gen. Eric Fick said March 4. Granting Lockheed Martin's pitch to get a Performance-Based Logistics ...
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 ...
A Feb. 22 precision airstrike in Somalia killed a senior Al-Shabab member who planned the Jan. 5 attack on a U.S. base in Kenya that killed three Americans and destroyed six aircraft. "This strike demonstrates that we will continue to relentlessly pursue those responsible for ...