Daily Report

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says there will be “adjustments in dollars” and “adjustments in schedule” for the F-35 strike fighter program, reports Reuters news service. Defense officials are now acknowledging that the program is in trouble, a bow to...

Around April or May, USAF expects to field the first of its new Gorgon Stare wide-area surveillance pods on its MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft that patrol the skies over Afghanistan looking for Taliban insurgents on the ground. The pods’...

The House on Wednesday passed the $636.3 billion defense spending bill, which includes funding for the General Electric-Rolls Royce F136 engine for the F-35 strike fighter and 10 additional C-17s airlifters—neither of which the Pentagon wanted. The Fiscal 2010 measure...

According to Gen. James Conway, Marine Corps Commandant, the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant will not experience its first vertical flight testing until next spring. BF-1 arrived at NAS Patuxent River, Md. last month, when testing was put on hold...

According to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Pentagon may make changes to the KC-X tanker competition, reports Reuters news service. Pentagon officials talked with Sessions and others Wednesday, and Sessions reported, “They said it’s not true their mind is made...

Despite claims that the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey fell short in mission capability rates in Iraq, Gen. James Conway, told Pentagon reporters Tuesday that the new tilt-rotor is “an incredible capability.” MV-22s are in Afghanistan now. The Marine Corps Commandant...

The Strategic Airlift Capability consortium’s Heavy Airlift Wing flew its first mission into Iraq, marking another milestone for the multinational C-17 unit that stood up and received its first aircraft in July 2009 at its base in Hungary. The wing...

The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star Medals to TSgt. Robert Thompson and TSgt. Aaron Winward for their meritorious service while deployed to the Multinational Force Iraq command earlier this year. Both Thompson and Winward are members of the 820th...

Officials at Fairchild AFB, Wash., recently hosted the Air Force’s first Single Airmen’s Summit, according to a Dec. 15 release. The summit presented an opportunity for single airmen to devise solutions to common problems that range from safety and leisure...

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Dec. 12-13, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 53 61 114 16,513 CAS/Armed Recon 28 142 170 33,565 Airlift 262 262 46,060 Air refueling 75 75 16,435 Total 621 113,573 OIF=Operation Iraqi...