U.S. Navy Lt. Daniel "Crib" Armenteros, piloting an F-35C Lightning II assigned to Naval Air Station China Lake's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9), conducts the first live-fire test of an AIM-120 missile released from an operational Joint Strike Fighter. The advanced medium-range air-to-air missile was released from the aircraft's internal weapons storage bay over a controlled sea test range in the Pacific Ocean as part of efforts by the 412th Test Wing and Joint Operational Test Team at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Air Force photo by Christopher Okula.
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Almanac: Weapons & Platforms
June 1, 2020
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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.
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
More than two dozen F-35 Lightning II fighters are heading to Kingsley Field, Ore., after Air Force Secretary Troy Meink signed the official record of decision to base the jets there on Oct. 5, clearing the last bureaucratic hurdle for the Air National Guard base to host the service’s third…
The Space Force is looking for industry feedback on its plans to create a new “Mission Development Zone” at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., to support launch providers with space for additional payload processing capacity, test and assembly facilities, and potentially rocket and spacecraft manufacturing infrastructure.
Northrop Grumman’s Talon Blue YFQ-48A Collaborative Combat Aircraft took its first flight Oct. 3, heightening the competition for the Air Force’s future combat fleet.
The Air Force’s plans to field 1,000 semi-autonomous fighter and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drones within just a few years made headlines at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber conference last month. But beyond the service’s signature Collaborative Combat Aircraft and Massed Modular Aircraft programs, a half-dozen or so firms are pitching…
All 12 American bombers deployed in Britain rapidly returned to the U.S. on Oct. 4 following security concerns about a potential Iranian threat to their base in the U.K.
The Space Development Agency is set to launch 21 Tranche 1 data transport satellites on Oct. 5—its fourth Tranche 1 mission since last fall and the first to carry Northrop Grumman-built satellites.
Air Force Global Strike Command has fielded a new prototype system for beyond-line-of-sight communications on the B-52H Stratofortress in a step forward for modernizing the Cold War-era heavy bomber.
After a two-year experiment that created F-16 “Super Squadrons” at Osan Air Base just 50 miles away from North Korea, the U.S. Air Force has returned some of the fighters to its other base on the peninsula.
The Air Force adjusted its fiscal 2026 recruiting goal down by a few hundred enlisted Airmen due to higher-than-expected retention and the number of available training slots—but it is aiming high in fiscal 2027 with its biggest goal for the Active-Duty Air Force in nearly 25 years, and the Space…
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