Daily Report

Two airmen assigned to the 755th Air Expeditionary Group at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, were injured Aug. 2 in a landmine explosion at an off-base location, the Air Force announced Monday. The airmen were transported to the Craig Joint Theater Hospital...

A federal judge has set aside one of the two lawsuits that the City of Valparaiso, Fla., filed against the Air Force over the decision to bed down the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter at nearby Eglin Air Force...

The Air Force formally retired the T-37 Tweet trainer aircraft from service during a ceremony on July 31 at Sheppard AFB, Tex. It had served for more than 50 years in undergraduate pilot training roles, providing initial jet training for...

Pratt & Whitney, maker of the F135 engine that powers the new F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, acknowledged last week that this propulsion system has experienced “some cost growth and production issues.” But in its release July 30, the company said such issues are “consistent” with new engine programs at this stage of development and as the transition is made to production. “We are confident that we are on the right path to continue to deliver a successful product for the F-35 program and realize the benefits of a learned-out manufacturing process in the near future,” the company said. Last week, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Brig. Gen. David Heinz, F-35 program executive officer, was quoted as being displeased with programmatic cost increases due to the higher than desired percentage of F135 parts reportedly failing to meet quality standards. Heinz said only about half of some components were meeting quality standards, when the goal is for 80 percent to be accepted. Pratt said it is performing “at 70 to 80 percent yield” for some components and will improve this yield as the production process matures. It said many components are already “being manufactured at much better yields.” The company also noted that there have been “absolutely no product quality issues” with fielded F135 engines, and engines delivered for flight testing “have performed without issue.”

Air Force Special Operations Command activated the 33rd Special Operations Squadron last Friday at Cannon AFB, N.M. The Clovis News Journal reported that day that the new unit will operate the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle, which is already playing...

A new Government Accountability Office report exploring unmanned aerial vehicle commonality finds that the Air Force and Army “have made limited progress” in merging their respective MQ-1 Predator and MQ-1C Sky Warrior unmanned aerial vehicle programs despite OSD’s 2007 directive...

The Pentagon announced Aug. 2 that the remains of Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, the first US pilot lost over Iraq during the opening phase of Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, have been positively identified, culminating an 18-year saga....

The Air Force on July 31 activated the 502nd Air Base Wing that will serve as the installation manager for Joint Base San Antonio that is being established per a BRAC 2005 decision. The joint base will fully integrate the...

The Air Force announced July 31.that it has brought on CH2M Hill of Denver through 2015 to oversee the environmental cleanup activities on the former Castle Air Force Base near Atwater, Calif., and the former Norton Air Force Base in...

July 30-31, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 55 40 95 8,910 CAS/Armed Recon 28 153 181 20,220 Airlift 270 270 27,514 Air refueling 100 100 9,787 Total 646 66,431 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...