The No. 1 priority for USAFE Commander Gen. James Hecker is improving NATO's ability to neutralize adversary integrated air defense systems, which have proven a tough nut to crack for both Russia and Ukraine. He also said NATO will invest in regional bases around Europe ...
After nearly seven years, the Air Force is looking into the possibility of returning dependents and restoring standard two-year deployments to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. In an Aug. 21 release, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa announced a project task force team visited the base ...
Ukraine won’t get a basic F-16 capability until at least 2024, and developing proficiency with that aircraft “could be four or five years down the road,” Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces-Africa, said Aug. 18. Hecker also downplayed ...
Three B-2 bombers have deployed to Keflavik, Iceland, where they will operate and participate in exercises with other USAF aircraft and air forces of allied and partner countries, the service announced. The deployment is the second of the B-2 to Iceland but the first since ...
The U.S. and its allies intercepted American B-1 bombers coming across the Atlantic toward North America, in a NORAD-led exercise simulating an enemy attack on June 26. During an exercise dubbed Noble Defender, B-1 Lancers that were leaving Europe after a month-long Bomber Task Force ...
Four U.S. Air Force bombers are deploying to Europe as part of a reassurance mission for America's NATO allies. It did not take long for Russia to take note. Two B-1B Lancer bombers “were operating in international airspace in the Baltic Sea region alongside NATO allies ...
Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Reserve tankers that deploy to Europe will now operate primarily from Powidz Air Base, Poland, the latest effort to bolster the Air Force’s presence in eastern Europe and reassure NATO allies in the region.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has proven that air superiority is vital to success in conflict, Gen. James B. Hecker, the top U.S. Air Force commander in Europe, said March 22. In a Mitchell Institute event, Hecker argued that if Russia had gained air superiority early ...
The Pentagon released video of a March 14 incident involving a Russian Su-27 fighter and a U.S. Air Force MQ-9, which resulted in the American plane crashing into the Black Sea. The MQ-9 was conducting a surveillance mission when two Su-27 Flankers intercepted it. The ...
A Russian fighter collided with an American drone over the Black Sea on March 14, damaging the drone and causing it to crash, according to U.S. European Command. The U.S. military said the incident occurred in international airspace following “an unsafe and unprofessional intercept” of ...
Air Force and Space Force leaders are thinking long and hard about the need to better defend U.S. forward-deployed forces and allies in a world awash in cruise and ballistic missiles, armed drones, and potential adversaries increasingly emboldened to use them, they said March 7 ...
Ukraine has lost roughly 60 aircraft so far since Russia's renewed invasion of the country in February 2022, while the Russians have lost 70, according to the top U.S. Air Force commander for Europe. After Russia's larger air force failed to establish air superiority in the ...