An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft flown by 163rd Attack Wing pilot Lt. Col. Paul Brockmeier, with sensor operator Master Sgt. Anthony Martinez, views the smoky San Gabriel Mountains of southern California in transit to a fire mission in northern California, late August, 2020. “The beauty of the sunsets doesn’t begin to mitigate the tragedy of the fires,” said Brockmeier. “But it’s always a beautiful evening when you’re flying to the aid of your fellow Californians.” Photo courtesy of Chalk 2 for the 163d Attack Wing.
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2021 USAF & USSF Almanac: Weapons & Platforms
June 30, 2021
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Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
A detailed guide to the aircraft, aerial target systems, weapons systems, and satellite systems in USAF and USSF inventory.
Click image to open 42-page pdf
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
The Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit hosted a change of command ceremony recently, another sign of how the CCA concept is maturing and becoming entrenched in the Air Force’s structure, to the point where exercises have generated multiple sorties in a single day to simulate high-tempo combat operations.
The Air Force is looking for a new family of drones to serve as aerial targets for test missions, ranging from cheap, expendable quadcopters to large, reusable aircraft that can mimic fifth-generation enemy fighters.
The Air & Space Forces Association urged congressional leaders this week to fully fund the Space Force’s record-breaking $71.1 billion budget request for fiscal 2027, increase F-35 procurement, and finish revisions to troops’ Basic Allowance for Housing.
The Space Force will maintain its aging weather satellite fleet—which provides key forecasting data for military planners—until at least 2028 as it transitions to a new replacement architecture.
The Space Force's recently activated 1st Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron is its first unit to combine the Bounty Hunter system with the new Meadowlands, part of a larger push to field and operate powerful EW capabilities across the force.
Search and rescue Airmen from Nellis Air Base, Nev., flew more than 200 miles in two HH-60W Jolly Green IIs last week to rescue five of their Navy helicopter crew counterparts who were forced to land in mountainous terrain near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif.
The Air Force said Aug. 13 it recently tested prototypes for a portable ground station for commanding and controlling semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
A novel program to integrate U.S. and Japanese space capabilities was “completed” last week when a Japanese navigation satellite carrying a U.S. Space Force payload launched into orbit.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.
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