Daily Report

Feb. 3, 2010

Bomber Slips More to the Right

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, testifying Tuesday on the Pentagon’s Fiscal 2011 spending plan and new Quadrennial Defense Review, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that a new Air Force bomber “would probably not appear into the force until the late...

“A Very Difficult Problem”

That’s how Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the process of determining the correct type of new bomber aircraft that the Air Force should pursue. “We want to get it right,” Mullen told the Senate...

F-35 Nunn-McCurdy?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday he’s “not sure” whether the F-35 program will experience a Nunn-McCurdy breach, triggering a program restructure for cost overruns or schedule difficulties. And, Tuesday, Lockheed Martin officials said their numbers indicate no breach is...

Buy to Budget

Lockheed Martin agreed to the deferral of a $614 million award fee on the F-35 program, announced Monday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates as part of the Fiscal 2011 budget rollout. Dan Crowley, F-35 program manager for Lockheed Martin, said...

Side By Side Numbers

Lockheed Martin F-35 program manager Dan Crowley on Tuesday downplayed reports that the F-35’s cost of ownership will far outstrip that of current generation fighters. Lockheed responded quickly last month when news first circulated of a leaked Navy analysis that...

C-5M Operational Testing Concludes

Officials at Dover AFB, Del., say they have completed operational testing and evaluation of the C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft. The OT&E phase comprised nearly four months of missions and demonstrations with the three C-5M test aircraft, including training sorties...

Dawn of the AC-130J

The Air Force plans to launch an initiative in Fiscal 2011 to acquire 16 new gunships based on modified, new-build MC-130J special operations tankers that are outfitted with a “precision strike package” to give them an attack capability, according to...

Making Do With Less of More

Airmen and Air Force civilians, like all members of the US military, are slated to get a 1.4 percent bump in base pay in Fiscal 2011 under the Pentagon’s new budget proposal. And Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale says he hopes...

C-5M Makes Iraq Debut

In January, a C-5M transport aircraft flew to Iraq, a historic first for the new version of the massive cargo hauler. The aircraft not only delivered more than 85,000 pounds of equipment on short notice, but also arrived back at...

Predator Firsts

The Air Force made history on two fronts on Jan. 27 when an unarmed Predator remotely piloted aircraft took off from an airport near Aquadilla, Puerto Rico, to fly a surveillance mission over earthquake-ravaged Haiti. This mission marked the first...

Brave to the BONE

The courageous actions of MSgt. Alan Andrews and MSgt. Michael Wingler, production supervisors with the 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at an air base in Southwest Asia, helped save lives and prevent the loss of a B-1B bomber on Jan....

Air Sortie from SWA 020310

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Jan. 28-29, 2010 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 58 54 112 1,642 CAS/Armed Recon 36 132 168 2,569 Airlift 338 338 4,588 Air refueling 71 71 1,216 Total 689 10,015 OIF=Operation Iraqi...