USAF Almanac 2004 Introduction

After years of serving as the bill-payer for other Pentagon priorities, munitions stockpiles are poised to get a major boost from the $150 billion reconciliation package unveiled by lawmakers in Congress this week, along with the defense industrial base to...

When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the Army War College last week, he mentioned changes to the way the military buys software alongside Golden Dome and the F-47 as key to his goal of “rebuilding the military.” And Lt. Gen. Luke C.G. Cropsey, who heads the Air Force’s most consequential…

Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…

Michigan’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base will become the home of 21 F-15EX Eagle II multirole fighters, a move that will enable the base to retain a fighter mission after the looming retirement of its A-10 attack planes.

An upcoming Netflix documentary promises an inside look at the Air Force’s premier aerial demonstration team. Premiering May 23, “Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds” will showcase the skill, trust, and hard work it takes to fly six F-16 fighters in tight...

Lawmakers in Congress are working to inject tens of billions of dollars into President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Golden Dome” plan for comprehensive missile defense of the U.S. homeland in the coming months.

Everything’s coming together to make 2025 a pivotal year in the Space Force’s long-running effort to make GPS more resistant to jamming, a senior service official said April 29. “That entire architecture is really focused now on meeting the anti-jam and spoofing threat,” Cordell A. DeLaPena, program executive officer for military…

The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.

Young Air Force and Space Force recruits in Basic Military Training will not be trading in their non-firing M4 carbines for live M4s anytime soon. After leaders previously said they wanted to make the switch, Maj. Gen. Wolfe Davidson said it may not be necessary for Airmen to carry real…