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Top Space Force General Visits Europe to Explore How to Operate Within NATO

June 2, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

With the Space Force on the precipice of standing up its own European component, the service is studying how it will work within NATO, the continent's primary military framework. To that end, Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and ...

Coming in 2024: Patrick Space Force Base Picked for STARCOM Headquarters

June 2, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The Department of the Air Force has selected Patrick Space Force Base, Fla., as the preferred location for Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) headquarters—and hopes to start moving in by fall of next year.

Daily Report: Biden Speaks at USAFA Graduation | F-35 Block 4 Costs Rise | Bomb Techs Practice WWII Tactics

June 2, 2023 | By Greg Hadley, Chris Gordon, David Roza and John A. Tirpak

Read the day's top news on the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, Department of Defense, and national security issues.

Read: President Biden’s Full Speech at USAFA’s 2023 Graduation

June 1, 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden delivered remarks June 1 at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony—his first visit to USAFA as president. The full text and video of his speech is available here.

Biden Tells USAFA Grads: You Have Rare ‘Chance to Change Trajectory’ of US

June 1, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Speaking at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony June 1, President Joe Biden urged the 921 graduates in the class of 2023 “to keep us at the forefront of air and space dominance.” To do so, Biden added, the newly-commission Air Force and Space Force officers ...

480th ISR Wing Honored with Gen. Doolittle Award

June 1, 2023 | By Patrick Reardon

The 480th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., received the 2023 Gen. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle Award in recognition of its top-notch ISR support of major commands and joint and combined force commanders across the world over the past two years.

F-35 Block 4 Costs Keep Going Up. The GAO Says It’s Hard to Know Exactly Why

June 1, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

It’s hard to know why the F-35 Block 4 upgrade's cost—now $16.5 billion and rising—is going up because it is mixed with the rest of the program, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.

Medics and Finance Personnel Repairing Runways? The Air Force Tests It Out

June 1, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

Seeking to make life harder for a potential adversary like China, the Air Force wants more airfields in more locations, giving the service more freedom to operate in combat. But runways serve little purpose if they are damaged beyond use. The Air Force recently conducted ...

Air Force Bomb Techs Practice WWII Tactics for Near-Peer Fight

June 1, 2023 | By David Roza

Over the past 20 years, military explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians have become very good at using high-tech tools like robots, communications jammers, smartphones, and next-generation bomb suits to disable improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in crowded urban environments. When it comes to a possible conflict ...

How Boeing’s KC-46A Accelerates Mission Readiness for the Joint Force Today and into the Future

June 1, 2023

As near-peer adversaries have increased their reach and lethality, the U.S. Air Force is accelerating the tanker fleet recapitalization and aggressively pulling forward the Next Generation Aerial Refueling System (NGAS) to meet the threat. Globally operating the KC-46A has advanced mission...

Daily Report: New NORAD Commander | GAO’s F-35 Engine Recommendations | ICBM Cancer Study Update

June 1, 2023 | By Greg Hadley, Chris Gordon, David Roza and John A. Tirpak

Read the day's top news on the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, Department of Defense, and national security issues.

ICBM Cancer Study Will Include ‘Enduring’ Environmental Monitoring

May 31, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Air Force is conducting a detailed investigation of environmental hazards at ICBM bases as part of its broad study of cancer risks at the facilities. There is an improved understanding of the environment and factors that can affect the issue, as well as better ...

GAO Urges Congress to Separate Engine Upgrade From F-35 Program

May 31, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Congress should direct the Pentagon to break out the F-35’s propulsion upgrade from the rest of the program to better to track its scope, schedule, and cost, the Government Accountability Office urged in a new May 30 report. Meanwhile, engine-maker Pratt & Whitney added its ...

Biden Taps Air Force’s Guillot as New NORAD Commander

May 31, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

President Joe Biden is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot to add a fourth star and succeed Gen. Glen D. VanHerck as the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)—one of several high-level nominations the Pentagon announced May ...

How Maintainers at Hill Found A Cheap Way to Make the F-35 Even Better

May 31, 2023 | By David Roza

A three-person shop at Hill Air Force Base designed a $45 data port cover that could save millions of dollars and many headaches across Air Force bases with the F-35.

Daily Report: Another ‘Unprofessional’ Chinese Intercept | B-52 Re-Engining Cost Increase | Russian-Speaking Airmen Translate Ukraine War Account

May 31, 2023 | By Greg Hadley, Chris Gordon, David Roza and John A. Tirpak

Read the day's top news on the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, Department of Defense, and national security issues.

B-52 Re-Engining to Get New Program Baseline in the Fall, with ‘Some’ Cost Increase

May 30, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

When the Air Force sets a new program baseline for the B-52 re-engining this fall, there will be “some” cost increase, because the project wasn't previously fully funded, and the Air Force has a better handle on actual supplier costs and knowledge from ground testing, ...

US: Another ‘Unprofessional‘ Intercept of RC-135 by Chinese Fighter. Watch the Video

May 30, 2023 | By Greg Hadley and Chris Gordon

A Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuver in front of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 last week, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced May 30, releasing footage of the incident. The intercept, which took place May 26, happened over the South China Sea in international airspace.

In a First, USAF F-35s Join Multinational Arctic Challenge Exercise

May 30, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

More than two dozen U.S. Air Force fighters and tankers—including F-35s for the first time—are participating in what U.S. Air Forces in Europe calls the “premier” Nordic aerial exercise over the next two weeks.

Wives of Top Air Force, Space Force Generals Share 5 Keys to Life as a Military Spouse

May 30, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

Military families face many personal issues associated with their service, and the spouses of the top officers in the Department of the Air Force are not immune to them, they said May 30 during an Air & Space Forces Association United Forces & Families (F2) ...