Almanac: Equipment

Dr. Troy E. Meink was sworn in as the next Secretary of the Air Force on May 16, placing a career civil servant with extensive experience in space intelligence at the helm of the Air Force and Space Force.

The Air Force’s new electronic warfare jet has flown its first training mission, a critical milestone as the service modernizes its aging fleet of jammer aircraft. An EA-37B Compass Call from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., took off for a training sortie May 2, crewed by Airmen from the 55th…

President Donald Trump is interested in developing a twin-engined, upgraded version of the F-35 fighter, he said during a press event May 15 in Qatar marking the sale of Boeing airliners and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways. He said he would name the improved aircraft the “F-55” and also…

The projected "Golden Dome" missile defense system could push the U.S. military to broaden its thinking on how to support space operations, the Space Force’s top planner said May 15.

The “Golden Dome” homeland missile defense system proposed by President Donald Trump will likely cost more than half a trillion dollars, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said May 15.

The F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter will have a combat radius of greater than 1,000 miles—nearly double that of the F-22—and the Air Force plans to acquire more than 185 of them, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin revealed. The first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, so-called Increment 1, will have…

Missile Defense Agency is building Discriminating Space Sensor to place its prototype on orbit by 2029. The DSS will track ballistic missiles, and be operated by the Space Force. The DSS, along with the agency's Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites are expected to play a critical role for…

The Pentagon is seeking ways to down hostile drones to defend military bases without endangering nearby civilians or infrastructure—and it wants solutions soon.

The future of the Air Force’s acquisition of 26 Boeing E-7 Wedgetail aircraft is in doubt under spending plans that are being weighed by the Trump administration.