Daily Report

July 21, 2011

There Goes $49 Billion, with a “B”

The Air Force’s initial share of the $400 billion, 12-year defense budget cut imposed by President Obama is $49 billion from the next five years, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Philip Breedlove said Wednesday. Addressing AFA’s Mitchell Institute in Arlington,...

Grim Forecast

The Air Force is facing a grim situation, in terms of money and technology, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Philip Breedlove said Wednesday during a speech sponsored by AFA’s Mitchell Institute in Arlington, Va. Breedlove noted that when the Air...

Clear Need for New Bomber

The Air Force’s new penetrating bomber program fulfills a service “core competency” and must be acquired, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Philip Breedlove said Wednesday. Speaking in Arlington, Va., courtesy of AFA’s Mitchell Institute, Breedlove said the Air Force must...

The Cost of Doing Business

The Air Force needs to change the way it measures energy, said Air Force Materiel Command boss Gen. Donald Hoffman. “Just looking at the amount of fuel burned per hour is not the right focus,” said Hoffman at the Army...

Culture Change

The US military needs to change its culture in order to reap the full benefits of an energy-efficient force, said Gen. Duncan McNabb, head of US Transportation Command, Wednesday. That may mean re-evaluating each service’s command and control elements to...

Different Fuels, Same Purpose

The Air Force intends to evaluate a new alcohol-to-jet biofuel produced from wood waste, grasses, or corn stalks, said Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Philip Breedlove Wednesday during the Army & Air Force Energy Forum in Arlington, Va. This new...

Smart Flying

This summer, C-17 crews will begin using a computer software program to help them fly smarter,” said Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Philip Breedlove Wednesday. The mission index flying program, modeled off a similar program that commercial airlines utilize, measures...

Give and Take

US Strategic Command may soon start issuing regular warnings to other countries when their satellites are in danger of colliding with space debris, said Pentagon space policy lead Gregory Schulte. The Air Force performs what is known as conjunction analysis—monitoring...

Lowry’s Last Stand

The Air Force will end 73 years of history at the former site of Lowry AFB, Colo., as the Air Reserve Personnel Center, its last remaining military tenant, shifts to Buckley Air Force Base, also in the Denver suburb of...

HELLADS Development Advances

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a contract to develop the lightweight demonstrator laser weapon system for the agency’s High Energy Liquid Laser Defense System program. “GA-ASI pioneered a new concept for electrically pumped,...

Japanese Eagles Resume Flight Ops

Japanese F-15s based on Okinawa returned to the skies Wednesday for the first time since a fleet-wide grounding due to a fatal crash earlier this month during a training sortie from Naha Air Base. The Japanese defense ministry initially suspended...