Staff Sgt. Stefano Cothran, 96th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Red, secures a GBU-38 during the squadron’s weapons load competition at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Samuel King Jr./USAF
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2023 USAF & USSF Almanac: Weapons & Platforms
June 22, 2023
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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
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
Guardian officers looking to advance their careers must master their job specialty but also have a strong all-around understanding of the service and the joint force, the Space Force detailed in a new officer career path document.
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
The Space Force plans to overhaul eight legacy missile warning and space surveillance radars located around the world, taking them from analog to digital operations, according to a May 7 notice.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.
The Air Force is about to start considering alternatives for eventually replacing the B-52 Stratofortress, even as it prepares to upgrade the decades-old aircraft to a J-model featuring new engines, landing gear, avionics, and radar.
The U.S. military conducted strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, as the conflict with Iran flared up again—though officials say the ceasefire remains in effect.
The Air Force’s BACN may be cooked—the service plans to retire its entire E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node fleet in fiscal 2028 and equip aircraft to use satellite communications instead.
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