A U.S. Air Force pilot assigned to the 421th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron disembarks an F-35 Lightning II after landing at a base in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Aug. 15, 2023. U.S. Air Force F-35s have deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to help defend U.S. interests, promote regional security and safeguard freedom of navigation. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Alex Fox Echols III
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2025 USAF & USSF Almanac: USAF Major Commands
June 20, 2025
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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
The Air Force has six Institutional Commands focused on the recruit, train, and equip function of the department, and 10 Service Component Commands focused on meeting the needs of the nation’s joint combatant commands.
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
Air Education & Training Command is poised to receive its first T-7A Red Hawk in the coming days, the start of a process that will end with pilots finally getting trained in the eagerly anticipated jet.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
The United States Air Force is flying less than historic norms and funding for acquisition and readiness is on a path to further hollow out this too small and old force to that is incapable of sustaining an enduring combat air campaign.
For an investment of less than $24 million, the Air Force was able to return a damaged B-2 bomber to flying status in November. The service offered an unusually detailed description of the methods used to fix the stealth aircraft.
More than three-fourths of Americans would support using force to support NATO’s collective defense, according to the Ronald Reagan Institute’s latest annual National Defense Survey. The report comes as the Pentagon prepares to unveil its new National Defense Strategy, the lodestar for multiyear planning. It is expected to emphasize security…
An Air Force F-16 Thunderbird crashed Dec. 3 near Death Valley, Calif., with the pilot ejecting safely. In a statement, the Thunderbirds—officially the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron—said the incident occurred at approximately 10:45 a.m. local time “during a training mission over controlled airspace in California.”
The U.S. Air Force’s KC-46 Pegasus fleet hit a major milestone Dec. 2 with the delivery of its 99th and 100th aircraft at Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
The Air Force’s airlift fleet is in desperate need of modern connectivity, spare parts, and other innovations to keep going amid growing demand and modernization plans still in their infancy, according to a former senior leader and a new research paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
