From North Carolina to Shooting Down Drones in 22 Hours: A Team Effort to Defend Israel from Iran

From North Carolina to Shooting Down Drones in 22 Hours: A Team Effort to Defend Israel from Iran

May 12, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

High over northern Iraq, an F-15E crewed by pilot Lt. Col. Kevin “Rowdy” Murphy and weapons systems officer Maj. George “King” Welton heard “FOX 2″ on the radio: Another U.S. Strike Eagle had fired an AIM-9 Sidewinder at an Iranian drone.

“Well, we missed our shot,” Murphy told Welton. “I think we both thought, ‘Hey, that’s probably going to be the only one we’re seeing tonight,'” Welton recalled.

It was April 13, 2024, and Murphy and Welton were leading the DUDE 41 flight: four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron. Only days prior, Murphy had been home in North Carolina, part of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base. But anticipating an Iranian attack on Israel, they’d been rushed overseas. Welton had already deployed, having gone ahead as part of the advance party.

“When that week started, I … was still at home with the dogs and the wife,” Murphy said. “I was not tied into all of the classified planning that was happening on the back end. … The extent of my knowledge was an unclassified phone call on my cell phone from my Director of Operations, who was with King at the time, and he said, ‘Hey, I can’t tell you everything that’s happening, but we need those airplanes.'”

Murphy knew what that meant: “What he’s really saying is, ‘If you can take risk to get the jets here sooner, we need you to do that.’ There was a sense of urgency.”

So after less than a day on the ground in theater, they were back in the air, ”trying to remember what it’s like to fly in Iraq,” as Murphy recalled.

The attack was like nothing anyone had seen before. Tehran sought to flood the zone, launching a barrage of nearly 100 drones to confuse and overwhelm Israel’s air defenses as it lobbed dozens of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Israel—some 300 projectiles in all.

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle takes off from an undisclosed location, Apr. 13, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

The April attack marked an ominous first in Middle East military history: Iran’s first direct strike on Israel. It was also a critical test for the U.S., as well. Washington’s efforts to contain fighting between Iran’s proxies and Israel depended on how well U.S. forces could stymie the Iranian attack.

For Murphy, Welton, and fellow Airmen like Master Sgt. Christopher Oles, the production superintendent for the 335th Fighter Generation Squadron, it was both a logistical and tactical challenge.

“Aircraft were in country for [only] 22 hours prior to being back up, airborne again, and on a mission,” said Oles. More striking still: The mission was nothing like what they had prepared for.

“All our planning was based off of a standard AFCENT loadout, which was typically an air-to-ground engagement setup,” he recalled. But “after we got jets in-country, intel came down saying, ‘Hey, ‘There’s a potential for something coming up in the next 24 hours. You guys need to be ready to hunt.’”

Oles recalled it being unreal, unlike anything he’d seen before. “We’re loading eight missiles on one jet, like, ‘What are we going to do with all these?’” he said.

Tech. Sgt. Jashaunn Jasper, a weapons expediter in the 335th Fighter Generation Squadron, added: “In your mind, you’re thinking, ‘OK, we load them one time, they’re going to stay just like that, and they’re never going to fire off.'”

The DUDE flight was tasked with defending an area that was some 430 miles wide. During the engagement, they and coalition fighters from the United Kingdom, France, and other nations monitored the area, including Iraq and Syria.

Directed to run a combat air patrol in Iraq from east to west, Murphy and Welton had to blast Iranian drones out of the sky, minimize the risk of collateral damage on the ground, and avoid friendly fire. They knew about a tragic 1994 fratricide incident in northern Iraq, when two U.S. Air Force F-15C fighters accidentally shot down a pair of U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawks over northern Iraq, and they knew U.S. troops and their partners were active in Iraq and Syria as part of the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve, and potentially could be confused with their actual targets.

“There is helicopter traffic that is flying at the same speed, same altitude,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t necessarily a clean picture where everybody in front of you is guaranteed to be hostile. Each and every missile that came off the airplane, we had to make sure it was going into something that we wanted to die.”

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 335th Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., flies over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in August 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

For all of the planning, the aviators were still in for some surprises once the drones were shot down. The Airmen tried to engage over an area without villages or population below, but as they started to fire on drones, Bedouins and nomads below began to disperse to avoid the falling projectiles.

“The drones are full of gas, so they explode in a nice fireball about 1,500 feet above the ground, and then they stop moving forward and just kind of fall straight down in this burning fireball,” Murphy said. “What we thought was a completely empty, dark, nobody-out-there desert” turned out to be something different. “All of a sudden, probably about 10 to 20 trucks’ headlights come on, scattering away from the falling debris,” he said.

Over a frenetic 45-minute period, DUDE 41 expended all its missiles, downing six drones, then, as Murphy and Welton remained aloft, Welton located additional incoming targets and handed them off to a pair of Royal Air Force Typhoons for the kills. The stage for cooperation was set just days before the engagement itself.

“That was probably the fastest I’ve seen the [foreign disclosure] process work in terms of getting information that the coalition partners needed so that we could all work together effectively as a team and not just be in our own little stovepipes,” said Welton, a member of the mission planning cell and the deputy mission commander. “That was really cool.”

All told, the 335th Fighter Squadron downed two dozen drones as part of a multi-faceted defense that also included U.S. Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean, a U.S. Patriot battery in Iraq, U.S. F-15Es from the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, and U.S. F-16s, in addition to aircraft from partner nations.

Near the end of the mission, Murphy saw Israeli air defenses in action, as hit-to-kill vehicles separated and struck incoming Iranian missiles directly over his aircraft.

“I start seeing flashes off to the side of the airplane. Even though we’re 250 or so miles away from where these things are being launched, I can actually see them launch off the ground,” Murphy said of the Israeli interceptors. “You see [the incoming ballistic missiles] penetrate the atmosphere as the cone of heat. And then these projectiles are moving so fast through space, they actually have a near-visible IR signature that you can see in the NVGs.”

The interceptions, Murphy recalled, were happening at “zero degrees left, zero right, and 73 degrees nose-high above the airplane.” Debris was falling in a “360-degree cone around the airplane,” shrapnel that could shred his fighter.

“You fly through it,” Murphy continued. “You think skinny, you pray, and you continue on the heading that you’re on.”

Murphy and Welton earned each the Distinguished Flying Cross for their roles in the mission; Oles and Jasper received the Air and Space Commendation Medal with a Combat “C” Device.

Airmen assigned to the 335th Fighter Squadron and 335th Fighter Generation Squadron pose for a photo at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., March 28, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Leighton Lucero

Other aviators from three other F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron also earned DFCs, and other members of Seymour-Johnson’s 4th Fighter Wing received decorations. Air Force tanker crews earned awards for their actions that night, as did Airmen from Lakenheath. Coalition aircraft shot down over 80 drones that evening.

The mission opened a window into the strategy and tactics needed to deal with future threats.

“We try not to devolve into what we call a roving motorcycle gang, which is where everybody is pointed in different directions, and you’re just finding things and executing them,” Murphy said. ”So you run an engagement, you run an intercept, and then you attempt to get the formation back together so that we’re pointed in the same direction. We’re on the same page in what we’re doing. And the whole point there is to make sure that nothing is leaking through our line.”

Maj. Benjamin “Irish” Coffey of the 494th Fighter Squadron—which deployed to the Middle East months earlier—had already developed a game plan for intercepting the drones before that April night. The 335th Fighter Squadron improved it over the next seven months.

“It’s not an airplane, it’s lower, it’s slower, it’s smaller,” Murphy said, referring to the Iranian drones. “One of the biggest challenges is that the whole intercept just feels different from start to finish. We developed these [tactics, techniques, and procedures] literally on the fly. And the Air Force owes a debt of gratitude to Irish [Coffey] and King [Welton] for trying to codify these TTPs, because they were not written down anyplace prior to the 494th and the 335th getting out there.”

The Air Force has been disseminating information on how to kill drones to the U.S. Navy, which faces the threat of Houthi missiles coming from Yemen, and the U.S. Army.

“Over the rest of that deployment, we obviously just got much, much better at doing it and finding and shooting down drones. … We were able to refine those TTPs and get them down to a science: this is how you find a drone, this is how you employ against a drone, and how you verify that you’ve killed the drone,” Welton said. “The ‘Chiefs’ got 82 one-way UASs over the course of the deployment,” he added, using the squadron’s nickname.

strike eagle
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle takes off from an undisclosed location on Apr. 13, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

The threat to the Airmen didn’t end with the downing of the drones. As the F-15s flew back to their base—which remains undisclosed for security reasons—the ballistic missiles the Israelis and U.S. had shot down were raining down near the installation. With the base at “Alarm Red” conditions, the jets could not land and rearm as planned.

Oles said his maintainers were determined to brave the risk, and said “‘I guess I’m done hanging out in a bunker,’” he recalled. “Honestly, I just blocked it out. If it’s my time, it’s my time.”

Murphy was impressed. The Airmen from Seymour-Johnson were so new, they didn’t know the way to the chow hall, “but they knew what they were doing when it came to the business end of a Strike Eagle,” he said. “And they were out there in Alarm Red, with missiles flying overhead, coming out of bunkers, driving trucks full of fuel to get the airplanes back up. Because that’s what needed to happen.”

But when Murphy was preparing to land, there was a problem. “There’s nobody in the tower because they evacuated—true statement—and so the aircrew, we actually were sequencing ourselves, holding ourselves 10 to 15 miles away. We’re trying to just wait things out to see what’s going to happen next. And as we start running out of gas, we’ve got to bring it back to land. And so it’s just, ‘OK, I’m coming in to land. Anybody on the runway? Nope, we’re clear, cool.’”

That Monday, Murphy said he had been awake for 42 hours when President Joe Biden called the squadron commanders to congratulate them.

“I was on the phone with my wife at the time,” he recalled. “She let that set for a second, thought about it, and then she goes, ‘Kevin Murphy, you were the squadron commander, and the President of the United States is about to call! Get your butt into work and be there for that phone call.’”

Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command, presents the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lt. Col. Kevin Murphy, 335th Fighter Squadron commander, during a decoration ceremony at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., Mar. 28, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Leighton Lucero
USAF to Start Rotating Fighters to Misawa

USAF to Start Rotating Fighters to Misawa

May 12, 2025 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Air Force will rotate fighters through Misawa Air Base, Japan, as the U.S. begins to retire the F-16s now based there and the relocation of a permanent squadron of F-35s.

“The Aircraft will transition on a rotational basis,” a Pacific Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine in response to questions. “These rotations ensure the continuation of our long-standing mission to defend Japan and maintain an open and free Indo-Pacific.”

USAF’s 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa will start drawing down its Fighting Falcons this summer, but won’t start receiving fifth-generation F-35s until spring 2026. Once complete, the wing will have given up 36 F-16s for 48 more capable F-35s. Misawa will be the Air Force’s second overseas base to host the stealth jets, following RAF Lakenheath in the U.K.

Misawa is charting a similar course to Kadena Air Base, Japan. Kadena’s 18th Wing began retiring its 48 F-15C/D Eagles in 2022 and expects the first 36 F-15EXs between March and June next year. In the interim, Kadena has hosted rotating interim forces, including F-15Es, F-16s, F-35s, and F-22s. Active-duty deployments usually last around six months, while Guard rotations are shorter, because they have to account for transition time on either end.

Two F-16 Flighting Falcons assigned to the 35th Fighter Wing, Misawa Air Base, Japan, prepare to land at Yokota Air Base, Japan, in 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Yasuo Osakabe

When the Pentagon first announced plans to retire its Kadena-based F-15C/Ds, some lawmakers voiced concerns about sustaining sufficient combat capability in the region, worrying that the move could send the wrong signal to both adversaries and allies alike.

The signals at Misawa are similarly mixed. The timeline for Misawa’s new F-35 wing to achieve full operational capability remains murky. At RAF Lakenheath, the 48th Fighter Wing was originally slated to to operate 52 F-35s across two squadrons. Four years later, just one squadron has achieved full operational capability; the other won’t be certified until this summer.

In Japan, relying on rotational forces does present some risk, said a former U.S. Forces Japan and Fifth Air Force commander, retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright.

“These rotational forces belong to other combatant commanders, and they can be tasked by them at any time,” he said. “It’s a force that can be pulled between US Central Command and possibly European Command at a time when we’re facing a trilateral threat.”

J. Michael Dahm, a former Navy intelligence officer and senior fellow at Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, acknowledged rotations can result in a “slight reduction” in combat capability due to turnover, but U.S. forces are built and trained to be able to manage such deployments.

“This has long been the case in the Middle East, where we’ve effectively fought wars without permanently stationing large forces in the region,” said Dahm. “The Indo-Pacific will be no different.”

The Air Force has not detailed its plans for Misawa’s F-16s, which could be put through a service life extension program for upgraded avionics, electronic warfare, and radar systems, which would keep them operational into the 2040s, transferred to the Air National Guard, or sent to the boneyard. The Pentagon recently transferred non-operational F-16s to Ukraine for parts.

New 85th Fighter Group Trains First Polish F-35 Pilots With More Nations to Come

New 85th Fighter Group Trains First Polish F-35 Pilots With More Nations to Come

May 12, 2025 | By David Roza

A new F-35 training group graduated its first batch of two Polish pilots May 9, with more on the way from Poland, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, and other partners.

The 85th Fighter Group was reactivated at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Ark. last July to help other F-35 buyers prepare to operate the new jet. The group is a geographically separated unit of the 33rd Fighter Wing, an F-35 training unit at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

“We’re deeply committed to ensuring our allies and partners have the capabilities they need to deter aggression and to increase stability, and the activation allows us to begin the build-up to full-time F-35 [foreign military sales] training operations,” group commander Col. Nick Ihde said in a press release last year. The first two of eight planned Polish F-35s arrived at Ebbing in December.

The goal for this year is to graduate six Polish pilots total, Ihde told Air & Space Forces Magazine

Ebbing is not the first base to host foreign F-35 students. Italian, Norwegian, Belgian, Dutch, Danish and Singaporean Air Force F-35 pilots train at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., for example—though the Singapore contingent is relocating to Ebbing, which works solely with foreign military sales customers within the F-35 enterprise, Ihde explained. Singapore will also move its F-16 training program from Luke to Ebbing. In Poland’s case, pilots did initial simulator training at Eglin before moving to Ebbing in January to start flying.

“Training here in the U.S. builds more than skills; it builds trust, interoperability, and a deep bond with our American counterparts,” Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, Inspector of the Polish Air Force, said in a May 9 press release. “We are proud to be the first F-35 partner to reach this phase at Ebbing.”

Polish Air Force Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, Inspector of the PLAF, speaks during the Initial Operational Capability ceremony at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Ark., May 9, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Abigail Duell

The graduation ceremony on May 9 also marked the 85th Fighter Group reaching initial operational capability.

“Building an international training center, getting requirements to align, and training and teaching with allies like Poland makes it truly meaningful,” Ihde said in the May 9 press release. “The relationships built amongst these countries will benefit global security for decades to come.”

Foreign pilot training has long been a tool to strengthen bonds with allies and enhance interoperability. A sign outside of the 162nd Fighter Wing headquarters building at Morris Air National Guard Base, Ariz., for example, features arrows with mileage markers pointing to the capitals of countries the unit has trained pilots from, including Greece, Pakistan, Thailand, Portugal, and more. Meanwhile, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, churns out hundreds of pilots a year from more than a dozen countries across Europe and North America. 

“The 33rd Fighter Wing has a legacy of forging the future of combat airpower, and now, through the 85th Fighter Group, we’re extending that legacy by training allied pilots who will fly shoulder-to-shoulder with us in future conflicts,” Col. Dave Skalicky, commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, said in the May 9 press release. “This is deterrence in action.”

A Polish F-35A Lightning II pilot greets Col. Nicholas Idhe, 85th Fighter Group commander, prior to his first flight at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Arkansas, Jan. 29, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Abigail Duell
AFRL Taps Rocket Lab for Space Cargo Experiment

AFRL Taps Rocket Lab for Space Cargo Experiment

May 12, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

An ambitious U.S. military program to explore using rockets to deliver cargo around the globe took another step forward with an announcement of an experimental mission planned for next year. The Air Force Research Laboratory, which supports both the USSF and USAF, has tapped the Rocket Lab to conduct the test, the aerospace company said May 8.

The Department of the Air Force made “Rocket Cargo” one of its premier “Vanguards” in 2021—top research programs to receive concentrated funding and focus. The idea is for space launches to deliver material, and possibly personnel, across the globe within hours. 

In a release, Rocket Lab said it would use its new Neutron rocket to fly an AFRL payload to space and then return to Earth “in a demonstration of re-entry capability for future missions.” 

The timeline for the mission is no earlier than 2026, not long after Neutron’s planned first launch in the second half of 2025. 

The announcement is the latest win for Rocket Lab after the Space Force added it to its National Security Space Launch program in March, opening the door for the firm to compete for a share of $5.6 billion in launch contracts. 

“We know reentry and rocket reusability is a critical advancement in space tech that the DOD is highly supportive of, which is why Neutron has been designed from the get-go for reuse and frequency,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said on an earnings call this week. “And the latest contract is a show of confidence from the DOD in our ability to deliver that.” 

Terms of the contract were not disclosed. In its 2025 budget, AFRL projected to spend $54.2 million on the effort, in addition to $4 million from the Space Force. Budget documents noted plans for a “demonstration launch to transport 30 to 100 tons of cargo to an austere site.” 

Rocket Lab is not the first company to work on “Rocket Cargo.” In 2022, AFRL awarded a five-year, $102 million contract to SpaceX to work on the program; many observers see SpaceX’s new Starship rocket as a natural fit for the program. 

Other firms, including Blue Origin and Sierra Space, have also signed agreements to explore the concept without receiving funds. 

Still, the financial and technical feasibility of using rockets essentially for airlift capabilities is still unclear, and Beck noted during Rocket Lab’s earnings call that the “program is really at the very beginning of its development within the U.S. government.”

AFRL and the Space Force aren’t alone in their curiosity surrounding the capability, as the Defense Innovation Unit solicited industry proposals in 2023 for “novel commercial solutions that enable responsive and precise point-to-point delivery of cargo to, from, and through space.”

JetZero Pitches Blended Wing Body Tanker as ’Game-Changer’

JetZero Pitches Blended Wing Body Tanker as ’Game-Changer’

May 10, 2025 | By David Roza

When the last Air Force KC-10 tanker flew its final sortie in September 2024, Airmen mourned the loss of an aircraft that carried a “staggering” amount of gas and nearly as much cargo as a C-17. 

But retired Air Force pilots say a new kind of aircraft under development in California could fill the void left by delivering more gas even farther afield than the current fleet. 

Developed by aerospace startup JetZero, the Z4 is a blended-wing body aircraft where the fuselage generates lift, which the startup says will use 50 percent less gas than conventional tube-and-wing aircraft. For tankers, that means fueling larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk. Higher lift also means the Z4 can use shorter runways, while its unusual cabin allows for taller pallets of cargo. 

“The capability that the Z4 brings, for the tanker mission specifically, is a quantum leap,” said Brian Tighe, a retired B-52 pilot who is now executive vice president of the aviation consulting company Allied Defense Services International, a division of Consolidated Air Support Systems.  

CASS helped JetZero refine its proposal to the Air Force, which in 2023 announced a $235 million contract to fly a full-scale commercial demonstrator in 2027. Nearly two years and many subscale demonstrator flights later, JetZero officials say they will deliver on schedule, with a critical design review and production site selection just around the corner.  

A KC-Z4 tanker refuels a Next Generation Air Dominance fighter in a concept image courtesy of JetZero.

The full-scale fuel tanks are built, the cockpit tooling is complete, and a wing test article is being evaluated, said JetZero’s head of engineering, Florentina Viscotchi. 

“I’m confident about us getting to that path to first flight,” Viscotchi said at a May 2 media day event at the company’s Long Beach, Calif., headquarters. 

JetZero’s pitch to airlines touts unmatched fuel efficiency, a streamlined boarding experience, and dedicated baggage room for each of the 200 to 250 passengers. For the Air Force, JetZero is proposing a KC-Z4 that can send more combat power farther downrange than current options.  

Nate Metzler, head of strategic programs and partnerships at JetZero, said a potential KC-Z4 could carry enough gas after 4,000 nautical miles (about the distance from Joint Base Pearl-Harbor Hickam, Hawaii, to 500 miles off Taiwan) to offload about 10,000 pounds each to six F-35s, while the KC-46 can refuel just one. 

“You could sit in a refueling track for 45 minutes as the F-35s fill up and go on to do their work,” Metzler said. “And then the Z4 could go back to base 4,000 miles and land without having to refuel.” 

But an aircraft like this has never been built at scale before, which could mean headwinds on the way to certification and production. 

Running on Empty 

When it comes to tankers, the Air Force is running out of gas. The KC-135 makes up the bulk of the tanker fleet, but the sexagenarian aircraft will soon be too difficult to keep flying. 

“Over the next decade, the aging KC-135 aircraft fleet will be an ever-increasing readiness concern,” Gen. Randall Reed, the head of U.S. Transportation Command, wrote in a statement for Congress on March 5. The air refueling fleet, he added, is “the most stressed deployment, sustainment, and combat capability” as well as “the lifeblood of the joint force’s ability to deploy forces.” 

JetZero illustration

The new KC-46 brings fresh iron, but it is plagued by technical problems and the Air Force currently does not plan on buying enough of them to replace every KC-135, even as the joint force is preparing to fight a war across the Pacific. 

Air Mobility Command is nearly done with an analysis of alternatives for the Next-Generation Air refueling System (NGAS), which would replace the KC-135. Air Force officials previously said the performance of the blended wing body would inform the AOA for NGAS and possible airlift concepts. Former Air Force pilots affiliated with the JetZero project said the efficiency of a KC-Z4 could be revolutionary on the battlefield. 

“This is the game-changer,” said retired Maj. Gen. Erich Novak, a former KC-135 and KC-10 pilot who is now chief financial officer at CASS. “Energy efficiency, payload, range, those are the brass rings for tanker aircraft.” 

JetZero expects a maximum gross operating weight of 362,000 pounds, with a total fuel load of 200,000 pounds, comparable to that of the KC-135 and KC-46, though the efficiency of the blended wing could stretch that tank farther.  

The startup found that a KC-135-style boom works better on the KC-Z4 than the larger KC-10 scale. JetZero plans to build a recessed area in the belly where the boom’s V-tail can tuck in to reduce drag when not in use. Removable wing pods would let the KC-Z4 refuel Navy, Marine Corps, and other probe-and-drogue aircraft. 

The KC-Z4 could carry up to 21 full-size pallets, whereas the KC-46 can carry up to 18, Metzler said. JetZero plans on designing the tanker version with a cargo door the same size as the KC-10’s cargo door on the forward left side of the fuselage.  

The aircraft will be able carry about 120 troops, could be converted into an aeromedical evacuation platform, or carry sensors and communications nodes to help the joint force build a picture of the battlefield. The startup also is working on an airlift version with a rear cargo ramp and an overall different shape to accommodate tall cargo, which the Air Force could consider as it looks to replace the C-17. 

User Feedback 

Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, former assistant secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations and Environment, is now strategic advisor for commercial growth at JetZero. Chaudhary focuses on the commercial side in compliance with government contracting rules, but he spoke to his own personal experience after flying the C-17 for about 15 years in the Air Force and then trying the Z4 in a simulator. 

“You’re going to have those muscle memories as a C-17 pilot whenever you take the controls,” he said. “My first time in the seat, I flew a full C-17 approach profile in this and they asked me how it flew. I said ‘it flies like a C-17.’ 

“I flew a 500-foot tactical approach and put it on the numbers on the first try,” he added. “I’m not a test pilot, but as a line pilot, I could easily take it into the pattern and fly with precision.” 

JetZero built the skeleton of a mockup Z-4 airliner at a May 2 media day at the company’s headquarters in Long Beach, Calif. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)

Chaudhary and JetZero say they’re making a special effort to make the Z4 user-friendly, from the flight deck to the maintenance hangar. For example, Boeing airliners feature synchronized flight control yokes but no active feedback, while Airbus features active sidesticks that are not synchronized. JetZero takes the best of both worlds by featuring synchronized active sidesticks. 

“I spent a year as an Airbus captain, loved that airplane, but I didn’t know what the guy next to me was doing,” said retired Maj. Gen. Dan Heires, a former KC-135 pilot and CEO of CASS. “That’s a problem … and that was an early input” in the design of the Z4 flight deck. 

As the Air Force gears up for multi-crew sorties across the Pacific, mobility Airmen are figuring out how to stay sharp aboard jets that are often loud, bright, and have extreme temperatures, making it hard to rest or sleep. That wouldn’t be a problem on the KC-Z4, which could feature dedicated crew rest areas like those seen on most long-haul airliners.  

Like the KC-46, the KC-Z4 would use a remote vision system where Airmen operate the refueling boom using cameras mounted to the aircraft’s belly. Depending on Air Force requirements, the boom operating station could be located on the flight deck, a novel feature which officials say would enhance crew coordination, and there would be a curtain to block out any glare that would make operating the RVS more difficult. 

JetZero met with groups of Air Force boom operators to learn from the mistakes that have haunted the KC-46 RVS. The startup aims to provide higher fidelity without the distortion and depth perception problems that gave KC-46 boom operators eye strain and headaches. JetZero also used boomer input to model the layout for the station. 

“It’s understanding even the ergonomics and physiology,” Metzler said. Boomers “are going to be there for hours. We want to have more natural movements so as not to fatigue the small muscles in the wrists and arm. It’s little things like that that you wouldn’t think of, but the guys who have been in these airplanes for hundreds of hours said ‘hey, you better think about this.’” 

JetZero built the skeleton of a mockup Z-4 airliner at a May 2 media day at the company’s headquarters in Long Beach, Calif. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)

Putting It Together 

Developing a new airplane takes billions of dollars from the government, industry, or both. United, Delta, and Alaska airlines are among the major companies that have invested in or partnered with JetZero, but that doesn’t lock them into buying orders, said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director of the AeroDynamic Advisory consulting company. 

“However, there’s also a spirit of ‘hey, if you build it, we will come,’” he added. 

For now, JetZero officials say they are on course to a full-scale demonstrator and are confident about FAA certification. They emphasized the strength of their staff, many of whom previously occupied top positions at Boeing, Airbus, Gulfstream, and other major players. 

Still, major hurdles remain, such as finding a company to actually build the aircraft. Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, is building the full-scale demonstrator, but it’s not yet clear who would help JetZero meet its goal of 20 planes a month five years into production. 

CEO and co-founder Tom O’Leary said he expects the production site to be a “massive, 1,000-acre type of operation.” Made largely out of carbon fiber, most of the Z4 structure will have to be built in one place, he explained. 

JetZero illustration

The startup is seeking private equity and possibly government loans to get the aircraft to market, commercial aviation news outlets reported. But selling a tanker version to the government may be more difficult, as President Donald Trump’s administration is prioritizing other efforts like homeland missile defense, shipbuilding, and the Air Force’s new F-47 fighter. 

“The Air Force’s $235 million up front was a great idea, but it happened in a very different environment,” Aboulafia said. 

It’s also more challenging to design a crossover product for both civilian and military use today, experts say, than it was in the 1950s, when Boeing developed the KC-135 alongside its airliner equivalent, the 707.  

Engines are one example: for the full-scale demonstrator, JetZero selected the Pratt & Whitney PW2000, which powers the C-17 but is antiquated compared to modern airliner engines. There are also different standards for design and production certification, emergency evacuation procedures, and operating costs which could make development more complicated and expensive. 

Still, there is a large appetite for the advantages of a blended-wing body, Aboulafia said, especially one developed by a new company that could boost competition in the market. 

“People want this, they’re desperate for competition and innovation,” he said. “It’s intriguing, but the devil’s in the details.” 

ACC Unveils New Way to Measure Readiness

ACC Unveils New Way to Measure Readiness

May 9, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

Air Combat Command is changing how it measures and tracks fleet readiness, aiming to simplify the way it tracks and communicates the material condition of its airplanes.  

“Readiness Informed Metrics” or RIM, as the command’s new system, and if focuses on three key numbers at its core: 

  • Total aircraft in a fleet 
  • The number of aircraft needed to fulfill operational requirements 
  • The number of aircraft available to meet those requirements. 

CC director of logistics, engineering, and force protection Brig. Gen. Jennifer Hammerstedt told Air & Space Forces Magazine in an interview that the new approach “really helps at the strategic level” to grasp the command’s ability to field forces. “And then down at the tactical level, a wing commander can look at their entire fleet, tail by tail, and go … ‘OK, we’ve got X number of aircraft down for maintenance. What are we doing? What is our plan? It kind of just jumps out a little bit differently. So what we’re doing is not high order calculus or anything. … I guess you could almost say [it’s] an inversion of the traditional rates.” 

The Air Force traditionally tracks and reports on a host of data that add up to various readiness measures, most of which only experts can understand. Some using mission-capable rates— the percentage of the fleet capable of performing at least one of its assigned missions over time—are divulged publicly. Others, such as break and fix rates—the percentage of aircraft requiring maintenance before they can be mission capable and how fast they can be fixed in a set amount of time—are more closely guarded. 

RIM will also be closely guarded. Instead of percentage rates, it will offer three whole numbers, allowing commanders to clearly see the size of their fleets and compare that to the numbers of aircraft required of them and the number they can generate.

“Talking about things with a whole number really helps at the strategic level,” Hammerstedt said. Defining operational requirements is “the most important part,” Hammerstedt said. From there, commands can use the Air Force’s flying hours program and the Global Force Management process to understand what’s expected of them for deployments. “What do you need for flying?” she said. “What do you need for fleet health? What do you need for ground training? What do you need for spares?”  

“Degraders” like jets in depot, in need of parts, or in need of maintenance come off that total.  

By using full numbers, the hope is to make the impact more tangible. “That was kind of our goal: simplify so that we can more clearly see what the risk that we’re taking it is and what’s the impact,” said Hammerstedt. 

ACC is also implementing “tiered” reviews to study and review unit performance, Hammerstedt said. Wing commanders review their metrics daily; Numbered Air Force commanders review them twice per month, and ACC commander Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach is briefed monthly. 

The oversight focuses attention on problems and getting them fixed.

Take a hypothetical fleet of 100 aircraft, Hammerstedt said. The operational requirement might be 60 aircraft. If over the course of a month, only 52 are available, the given unit is short eight. In another circumstance, there might be 65 available, an overage of five.  

Wing commanders must brief Wilsbach and explain their numbers, citing whatever issues are getting in the way of meeting operational requirements. Thisshould “simplify and increase communication on our fleet health,” Hammerstedt said. It should also make it easier for Wilsbach and ACC headquarters to more quickly identify issues as they arise, she said, so they can quickly address “funding, maintenance, manpower, the age of our fleets, [and] divestment decisions.” 

ACC rolled out the new system to four bases in 2024: 

  • F-22s at Langley Air Force Base, Va.  
  • F-35s at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. 
  • F-15s at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. 
  • A-10s at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. 

Since the end of April, all ACC units have been using RIM, and Hammerstedt said the system could be expanded to other Major Commands in the future.  

Transparency to Congress and the public will have to come by some other means, however. “I don’t think you’ll see them published for operational reasons,” Hammerstedt said. 

The Air Force has to balance operational security concerns about the state of its airplanes and squadrons with the need to publicly report useful data to ensure accountability to Congress and the public. Readiness metrics published by Air & Space Forces Magazine in the annual USAF Almanac, typically include mission capable rates, but as rates have declined the Air Force has become more reticent.

The unweighted average of 2024 mission capable rates was the lowest the service has reported in at least a decade.  

USAF, Boeing May Modify Air Force One Requirements to Get Delivery by 2027

USAF, Boeing May Modify Air Force One Requirements to Get Delivery by 2027

May 9, 2025 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

The Air Force is in talks with Boeing to modify requirements for its new VC-25B presidential aircraft in a push to get them into service by 2027.

Boeing has given the Air Force a revised timeline that could bring the VC-25B aircraft earlier “if adjustments are made to requirements,” a service official told Air & Space Forces Magazine on May 9.

“The Air Force is coordinating with the White House and Boeing to further define the requirements and acceleration options while ensuring we provide a safe, secure, and reliable aircraft for the President,” the official added.

Darlene Costello, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and Logistics, told lawmakers during a May 8 hearing that the service and Boeing are aiming to have the new aircraft—called Air Force One when the President is aboard—ready by 2027.

That would be two years ahead of the current reported estimated delivery of 2029. President Donald Trump has voiced frustration over the persistent delays to the program and even suggested he may seek interim alternatives for a new place before his term ends in January 2029.

“They’re proposing to bring it into ’27 if we can come to agreement on the requirement changes that get us to that point,” Costello said. “That may be possible, but we believe some of those requirements may still need to be [in place].”

In written testimony, Costello detailed that the Air Force is zeroing in delays tied to “interiors supplier transition, manpower limitations, and wiring design completion,” while “actively pursuing options” to expedite the production. However, the proposed 2027 timeline is not guaranteed, as there are still a few “remaining issues” that the two parties are working through. According to Costello, a more accurate schedule will be available in the near future.

This would not be the first time the Air Force and Boeing have made tweaks to the program; without providing details, Costello noted that “we’ve done a couple things on that program actively working to improve the production and the design completion.”

The service and the manufacturer also previously agreed to ease security clearance requirements for workers to boost production.

“It will not be a permanent relief, but that has enabled Boeing to be more efficient and productive in assembling the aircraft and getting their mechanics to do the work,” Costello told lawmakers.

Boeing previously required “Yankee White” clearances for its VC-25B program engineers, a step above even the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance. It is reserved for those with direct access to or supplies involving the President or senior officials, requiring even greater scrutiny. The aerospace giant has previously reported issues with the clearances of some 250 employees lapsing.

When asked about the current security requirements and the duration of any relief, a Boeing official told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the company “continues to operate under the security requirements for VC-25B outlined by the U.S. Air Force.”

Trump’s desire for a new Air Force One dates back years. In 2018, during his first term, he secured a $3.9 billion deal for two planes, and he unveiled a new paint scheme in 2019. But the program has been plagued by delays and setbacks, repeatedly pushing its original 2024 timeline back.

Boeing and the Air Force have attributed the delays and cost overruns to higher-than-expected manufacturing costs, protracted negotiations with suppliers, other supply chain issues, engineering changes, and shortages of skilled workers with security clearances.

The two new jets are set to replace the 35-year-old VC-25A, which is based on Boeing’s earlier 747-200B models. The new planes are modified 747-8s, the latest variant of Boeing’s 747 series. A pair of 747-8s have been undergoing configuration, including a self-defense system, an electrical power boost, dual in-flight auxiliary power units, a mission communication system, an executive interior, military-grade avionics, and self-operating enplaning, deplaning, and baggage loading.

Most of the work is underway at Boeing’s San Antonio facility in Texas. Once the design and engineering are finished, both jets will go through testing, certification, pre-service support, equipment delivery, painting, and final preparation before Trump can board.

Kadena Sends ‘Message You Can’t Ignore’ with Huge Elephant Walk

Kadena Sends ‘Message You Can’t Ignore’ with Huge Elephant Walk

May 9, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

The Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week.

In a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, drawn from multiple fighter squadrons rotating through the region; eight F-15E Strike Eagles; and two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway.

The Patriot system, owned by the U.S. or foreign partners, is deployed to hotspots around the world with significant missile threats, including Ukraine and the Middle East. Their inclusion appeared intended to send the message that the U.S. was not only prepared to operate from the base but to defend it against Chinese missile attacks.

On Okinawa, Kadena is located in the so-called First Island Chain off the coast of mainland China, which includes Japan; Taiwan, the self-governing island China claims as its own; and the Philippines, a U.S. ally that has territorial disputes with Beijing.

In a release, Kadena’s 18th Wing said the “Elephant Walk” of aircraft and missile defense systems was a showcase of “combat readiness and regional deterrence” as part of the exercise Beverly High.

Other platforms also represented in the display: 

  • An Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence gathering aircraft;
  • A Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare aircraft;
  • Two Navy EA-18 Growler electronic warfare attack planes;
  • Two MQ-9 Reaper drones;
  • Two MC-130J Commando II special operations cargo planes;
  • An E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control aircraft;
  • Six KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers; 
  • Six HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters

The 18th Wing’s release called the display a “testament to the lethality Kadena AB can leverage to deter adversarial aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.” Chief Master Sgt. Brandon Wolfgang, the 18th Wing command chief master sergeant, said it “sends a message you can’t ignore.”

Obvious but unstated was who that message was for—China and North Korea.

Eventually, Kadena plans to receive F-15EX Eagle II advanced fourth-generation aircraft that will be permanently stationed at the base.

The aircraft from Kadena didn’t stay still. To practice the Air Force concept of Agile Combat Employment, under which aircraft will disperse to elude attack, Airmen and F-35s assigned to Eielson’s 355th Fighter Squadron and 355th Fighter Generation Squadron are staging out of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is also on Okinawa, from May 6-9.

At Kadena, Airmen from the 33rd Rescue Squadron and the 18th Civil Engineer Squadron conducted simulated airfield damage assessments May 8, and the CE squadron worked with U.S. Navy specialists to clear simulated unexploded ordnance from the runway.

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma hosts its own F-35Bs, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant flown by the service. The USMC also operates the carrier-based F-35C.

New Study: Air Force Needs to Work Now on How to Sustain CCAs in the Field

New Study: Air Force Needs to Work Now on How to Sustain CCAs in the Field

May 8, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA’s Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.

Based on a series of wargames, the study also concluded that using common weapons across different autonomous aircraft types will ease the logistics burden in wartime.

CCA sustainment is particularly important to maintaining a high tempo of operations and getting the maximum benefit for the Air Force, said retired Col. Mark Gunzinger, who authored the paper.

That’s because as long as CCAs are flying, either alone or with manned fighters, an enemy will have to “honor” them as a threat and expend effort, weapons, and sorties against them, said Maj. Gen. Jospeh Kunkel, head of Air Force Futures.

That only works if CCAs keep flying, and keeping those drones up in the air is a serious logistics challenge.

In the Mitchell-run wargames, “we’ve got 16 different [CCA] variants out there” Gunzinger said, and it’s important they not have 16 unique logistics trains to support them. “That is a critical consideration,” he said. The variants must be able to “share refueling equipment, other ground equipment, weapons, loading equipment, or whatever, to reduce the strain on our logistics force.”

Kunkel said the Air Force has spoken with its first two CCA airframe contractors—Anduril Industries and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems—about this and urged the companies to look “at motors that are the same, controls that are the same, actuators, tires … those types of things that we need” to sustain CCAs in the field.

“They don’t necessarily have to be the same aircraft, but certainly many of the components need to be the same,” he said.

Kunkel acknowledged, however, that a fundamental requirement is CCAs be able to operate for hundreds of hours without requiring significant physical interventions from maintainers.

The wargames didn’t identify a “sweet spot” limiting the number of increments or types of CCA drones that the Air Force should field to reduce complexity of support, but Kunkel said the numbers of types could be offset by using common elements or parts.

How to Take Off

The study found that CCAs that don’t require a runway for takeoff or recovery can help with the Air Force’s shell-game approach of Agile Combat Employment, in which aircraft are distributed over a wide variety of operating locations and move frequently, so as to not present a too-inviting target for an enemy with precision long-range munitions.

Kunkel said other considerations may still demand conventional takeoff CCAs, but he also suggested short or vertical takeoff is “is something that we need to look at” in future CCA increments.

“As you look at how we generate combat power, and the number of sites we can use … there’s something to a shorter takeoff length,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out what that takes because, generally, when you do a vertical takeoff aircraft, you decrease the payload, you decrease the range. And so there’s a balance that we need to strike here.”

On top of that, Kunkel reiterated recent comments he has made that the Air Force is looking at launching some types of CCAs not from the ground, but out of the back of other airplanes.

“We don’t necessarily want to be tied to air bases for CCAs,” he said.

Missions

One factor in the sustainment debate is the mission of CCA drones—the Mitchell study argued the service should favor“nonkinetic effects” like electronic warfare and other functions that can “degrade, disrupt or destroy” the electronic systems in adversary integrated air defense systems.

The wargames also saw a strong role for CCAs providing logistic support themselves, chiefly for delivering ammunition and supplies to far-flung locations.

The study noted that wargame participants commanding CCAs felt that the aircraft’s smaller footprint and lower cost allowed them to operate from bases closer to the enemy and “generate sorties closer to the fight,” Gunzinger noted.

Overall, the study concluded that the wargames showed some of the potential of CCA while still demonstrating they cannot substitute for fifth-generation fighters or the new F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter. Gunzinger also said CCAs shouldn’t be used to merely replicate the way the Air Force has fought in the past, but that the service should capitalize on their attributes to create new ways of fighting.

CCAs “must be additive” to the force, and not a replacement, Gunzinger said. As such, they need to be provided for with logistical considerations over and above those for the crewed fighter force.