Gen. Paul Hester, head of Pacific Air Forces, said PACAF was “surprised by the speed” at which China brought its new J-10 fighter from development to squadron service. “It was a little faster than we predicted,” he admitted during AFA’s Orlando symposium, but he said the new fighters don’t pose a particularly thorny problem for PACAF, even though the J-10 can refuel in the air and carry an F-16-like weapon payload. Hester diplomatically said, “It will be a fine aircraft for them.”
A major South Carolina military base that serves as a key Air Force logistics hub was renamed after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on Aug. 10 in a ceremony led by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham.