Daily Report

Aug. 20, 2009

Next 100 Days

With the activation of 24th Air Force, the Air Force’s new cyber operations organization, Tuesday at Lackland AFB, Tex., “a great deal of work remains” to integrate cyberspace operations with those in air and space, writes Gen. Robert Kehler, commander...

RERP Production Begins

Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that the first of the Air Force’s C-5 transports slated to receive new engines and reliability improvements has been inducted into the company’s modification line in Marietta, Ga. Work on this aircraft, a C-5B model from...

Moore’s Law

Moore’s Law: Air Force Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, F-35 deputy program executive officer since June, expects no more significant delays in the stealth fighter’s development. In a Fort Worth Star-Telegram report Monday, Moore says program officials remain "confident in [the program's] ability to deliver to commitments within the baseline program." This includes providing enough aircraft in time for the Air Force to have its first F-35 unit ready for operations in 2013. While completion of each F-35 test aircraft is running about three months behind schedule, Moore said the program office is still optimistic that the planned test program is “executable” within its established timeline. The Pentagon’s joint estimating team is reassessing its prognosis for the F-35 program, with its findings expected soon. Last year, it warned of a two-year delay and an extra $3 billion need to complete the aircraft’s development phase, findings with which the program office disagreed.

Beyond Outrageous

“Joking” comments of Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of US Central Command, during his presentation at the Marine Corps Association Foundation dinner on July 30 belittled the contributions of the Air Force to the joint force. In his prepared...

On the Move

Mobility airmen from California, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, and North Carolina, together with airmen from Belgium and Canada, are now participating in the joint readiness training center exercise that began Monday and runs through Aug. 25 at Ft. Polk, La....

US, Colombia Agree on Defense Cooperation

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez announced Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that the two nations have reached a provisional agreement that would allow the US access to seven Colombian military bases, including air force...

Boeing Mops Up Munitions Work

The Air Force has awarded Boeing a $12.5 million contract to provide three massive ordnance penetrators, those huge 30,000 pound-class bunker busters, for use in tests on the B-52H bomber. According to DOD’s list of major contracts for Aug. 18,...

Buckley Looks to Bathe in Sun

The Air Force has awarded a $7.3 million contract towards the construction of a one-megawatt solar power plant at Buckley AFB, Colo. The Denver Business Journal reported Tuesday that the US division of London-based AMEC received the contract to design...

Air Force Researcher Recognized

Paul Barnes, an Air Force Research Lab scientist, has won the 2009 John L. McLucas Basic Research Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Award for his achievements in the field of superconducting materials. Superconductors carry electric currents without any loss. In...

New Bomber, But Not For US

While the Air Force’s plans to field a new bomber by around the end of the next decade have been put on hold, pending more analysis, the Russian Air Force appears ready to move forward toward a new capability. Russian...

Missing Data

For some reason, Air Forces Central never posted on its Web site the airpower statistics for Aug. 7. When prompted, AFCENT provided the stats, so we have added a sorties table for Aug. 7 to our Aug. 12 Daily Report...

Air Sorties in SWA 08161709

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Aug. 16-17, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 49 55 104 9,778 CAS/Armed Recon 50 173 223 21,895 Airlift 304 304 29,983 Air refueling 107 107 10,668 Total 738 72,324 OIF=Operation Iraqi...