Swept Up … and Up

An Air Force C-17 transport jet recently tested a new technology that could help aviators stay on course even if the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) that much of modern-day aviation relies on is compromised.

As the Air Force struggles to ease its pilot shortage, it can still fill all its cockpits, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7. But that has come at the expense of staff jobs normally assigned to pilots, leading the service to reconsider whether those staff…

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Brown cautioned that America must align its strategic goals with the deployment of military assets. “You can make a decision in a moment not realizing what the impact is going to be further down that line,” Brown said during a Mitchell…

Brig. Gen. Christopher R. Amrhein—an experienced tanker and trainer pilot who helped oversee the Air Force’s flying training enterprise—took command of the Air Force Recruiting Service on June 2. Amrhein succeeds Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, who led AFRS starting June 2020 through a tumultuous time in recruiting. Between the COVID-19 pandemic,…

Gas is king in the vast expanse of the Pacific. And as the Pentagon has sought to build up its capability to deter China, the Department of Defense has undergone a major rethink about how to get fuel to the region. At the heart of the effort is the U.S. Transportation…

Lockheed Martin is pitching its Airbus A330-based LMXT tanker as a “mothership” for the Air Force’s planned fleet of small, stealthy tankers—a rationale company officials hope will overcome the service’s reticence to open its so-called “bridge tanker” buy to competition.

C-130 transports from Air National Guard Units across the country arrived in Germany for the start of the largest air force deployment exercise in NATO history.

The percentage of “in-the-zone” Air Force majors promoted to lieutenant colonel dipped slightly in 2023 to its lowest point since the service instituted sweeping changes to its officer promotion system—while “above the zone” promotions continue to rise. Those changes aren’t uniform across the different career categories though.

The Pentagon awarded a contract worth over $2 billion for the next batch of F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney on June 5. The deal for Lot 17 F135 engines, totaling $2.02 billion, is expected to be completed by December 2025.