Among the top awards presented during this week’s annual AFA Air & Space Conference in Washington was the H.H. Arnold Award, presented to Air Combat Command boss Gen. Ron Keys, who is retiring this fall, for the most significant contribution by a military member to national defense. The W. Stuart Symington Award went to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne for the most significant contribution in the field of national defense by an Air Force civilian. Lockheed Martin and Boeing garnered the John R. Alison Award, presented for industrial leadership in national defense, for their development of the Atlas V and Delta IV, respectively, and other launchers.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.