Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, USAF budget spokesman, confirmed for reporters Monday that the 2007 defense budget permits USAF to restructure the F-22A program to produce 20 fighters per year from fiscal 2008 to 2010, squeezing out an extra four fighters...

The Air Force is out of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System business, per Faykes, who said DOD had “terminated” the USAF portion of the program. Instead, the Air Force is to steer the technology it surfaced toward the Air...

Lt. Gen. Stephen Wood, USAF’s deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, said that the Quadrennial Defense Review’s direction to develop a “five-fold increase” in long-range strike capabilities is related to timing rather than a specific number of platforms....

The Air Force has big plans for its unmanned aerial vehicle force. According to Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, the Air Force 2007 budget proposal contains $752 million for procurement and RDT&E for six Global Hawk UAVs and three ground stations...

The 2007 budget proposal contains final funding—$2.9 billion—for the C-17 airlifter, providing for delivery of the 180th aircraft in 2008 and production shutdown and tooling storage. USAF plans to upgrade 112 C-5 airlifters. For tactical mobility, the Air Force has...

The Air Force wants Congress to approve its plan to shed numerous aircraft, including all F-117s and U-2s, and a majority of C-130Es, 38 B-52s, and many KC-135Es, as part of its fiscal 2007 budget proposal. In every case, either...

If the Air Force budget number ($130.4 billion) seems a tad high in comparison to the other services (Army at $111.8 billion; Navy/Marine Corps at $127.4 billion), it’s probably because the DOD number includes what is termed non-blue dollars—$24.5 billion...

Did you notice that the latest QDR, which contains so much about everything else, contains no force structure chart at all? Each of the three earlier top-to-bottom reviews (in 1993, 1997, and 2001) provided details about forthcoming force structure. Check...

For Veterans Affairs, Bush Proposes $80.6 billion: President Bush’s Fiscal 2007 budget request represents a 75 percent increase for VA programs since 2001, says an Office of Management and Budget statement. The Administration has increased the number of veterans it...

Gen. Ronald Keys, head of Air Combat Command, is sold on “Distributed Mission Operations”—the technique of using computers and telecommunications equipment to virtually integrate widely dispersed aircrews “flying” in simulators. Yet DMO, he points out, is “a sore point with...

General Paul V. Hester of PACAF told AFA’s symposium audience that he recently has hosted delegations of Chinese leaders visiting Hickam AFB, Hawaii—his headquarters. Hester said he has been forthright in telling them about PACAFs military capabilities and about plans...

The Pentagon has released “The National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism”—an “authoritative” document intended to sort out and synchronize DOD efforts in the so-called “long war.” One key provision of the 40-page document—which can be found here,...

Boeing’s global strike chief Dick Banholzer said the Air Force could conceivably buy some more Boeing-built F-15E fighters. The F-15E is the best of the 4th Generation fighters, but far less capable than the 5th Generation F-22. Even so, said...

Members of the 91st Space Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., reached a 99.82 percent alert rate—the highest ever for a Minuteman ICBM force, say Air Force Space Command officials. The ICBM alert rate is a function of the percentage of...

Slow Orders for Larger Predator UAV: Tom Cassidy, head of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, told us last week at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium that he is surprised that the Air Force has not entered into long-term, multi-year buys for the...

USAF’s CV-22 Osprey is still in development testing at Edwards AFB, Calif., but officials say they have already begun training with Air Force Special Operations Command personnel. “We’re taking the airplanes, learning how to fly them, and learning how we...

Some airmen in Southwest Asia call themselves “the ghosts of the base” when they perform escort duty—standing and watching silently—for local nationals working on coalition facilities, reports Air Force public affairs officer Maj. Ann Knabe. These airmen get two days...

For the past 19 years, Lockheed Martin has been running the Aircrew Training and Rehearsal Support program at Hurlburt Field, Fla., (as well as some operations at Kirtland AFB, N.M.) for the Air Force’s special operations and rescue aircrews. According...

We got an up-close look at the streets of Tikrit, Iraq, from the gunner’s turret of a mock-up Humvee during a visit to Lockheed Martin’s Simulation, Training, and Support facility in Orlando, Fla., during AFA’ Air Warfare Symposium. Surrounding the...

February 3-5, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 45 13 – 58 CAS/Armed Recon 141 57 – 198 Airlift – – 495 495 Air refueling – – 104 104 Total 186 70 599 855 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...