Daily Report

The Air Force “designed” the acquisition strategy for the KC-X tanker around the possibility of a protest, Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said in an interview. The prospect of yet another program-delaying protest loomed over the service as it...

Although the Air Force originally intended the KC-X tanker competition to be a contest between off-the-shelf aircraft designs—to reduce risk and accelerate fielding—Boeing’s NewGen Tanker met the bill, even though it hasn’t flown yet, said Chief of Staff Gen. Norton...

The 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., has taken operational control of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction satellite from the Missile Defense Agency. This addition gives the Air Force another on-orbit asset for...

AF-6, the first F-35 production-version aircraft, made its inaugural flight last week from Lockheed Martin’s F-35 assembly facility in Fort Worth, Tex. “The aircraft was rock-solid from takeoff to landing, and successfully completed all the tests we put it through...

On Tuesday, airmen at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., will come under the banner of the 319th Air Base Wing, which will replace the 319th Air Refueling Wing as the installation’s host unit. This change is one of the remaining steps...

Three Congressionally mandated studies that the Air Force completed last year on the status of its fighter inventory were limited by instability in the F-35 program and the “absence” of F-16 durability and fleet viability data, Government Accountability Office auditors...

Three Air Force Academy graduates are leading the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-133, its final scheduled mission. Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on Feb. 24 on an 11-day mission to support the International Space Station. Its pilot...

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems announced last week that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with International Golden Group, a leading Middle East weapons supplier, to offer the export version of the Predator remotely piloted aircraft to the United Arab...