The Air Force will shortly launch its effort to buy Skyborg drone prototypes, according to the official running the unmanned wingman program. The service will begin soliciting aircraft this month and plans to award contracts to the winning designs by the end of the summer, ...
Air
The New Jersey Air National Guard’s 177th Fighter Wing has a “no fail” mission and must keep F-16s on alert to respond to threats to the country’s northeast, even though the local community has been hit hard by the new coronavirus. COVID-19 has created a ...
Airmen and F-35s from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, returned home on May 7 from the aircraft type’s second combat deployment to the Middle East. The Airmen and aircraft deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, ...
Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. is arguing for a wholesale refresh of the Air Force’s roles and missions as he prepares to take the service’s top job. Brown, a decorated combat pilot, faced the Senate Armed Services Committee May 7 during ...
The Air Force inspector general is conducting a sweeping review of the service’s readiness assessments and reporting, the year after a Pentagon-wide order directed the armed forces to improve the state of key fighter fleets, according to the service’s presumptive next Chief of Staff. Air ...
The Air Force is seeking industry input on a new class of air-to-air missiles, which would be faster and longer-ranged than the AIM-120 and AIM-9X that currently equip its fighter fleet. It's not clear, though, how the new weapons would join a portfolio where there ...
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear from Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to consider his nomination to be the service's 22nd Chief of Staff at 9:30 a.m. on May 7. If confirmed, Brown would become the first African-American Air Force Chief of Staff and ...
Defense Secretary Mark Esper acknowledged that heavy government spending on anti-Coronavirus efforts could suppress defense spending in coming years, and said the Pentagon will prioritize modernization programs over legacy systems if the budget flattens. There are "dozens" of legacy programs Esper said he would be ...
Two B-1Bs flew directly from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., to train with NATO forces in Estonia on May 5, the latest long-distance training mission for the bombers. The Lancers worked with forces on the ground from Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Denmark as part ...