The Air Force has selected Holloman AFB, N.M. and Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to become homes to the new F-22A stealth fighter. The New Mexico Congressional delegation had been pressing for a new mission since USAF announced plans to advance the...

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, the Air Force’s two top leaders offered this sobering information: Threats from advanced fighter aircraft continue to grow. They noted that “increased use of state-of-the-art radar jammers, avionics, weapons and reduced...

If the F-22A Shoe Fits: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) puts the blame where it’s due—squarely on the Office of the Secretary of Defense—in describing what he calls “one of the most unusual year-to-year budget changes I think I have ever...

House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter berated the lack of stability in major acquisition programs, saying Wednesday that the “DOD budget legacy is one of missed procurement opportunities.” He called budget decisions made on the F-22A, the Joint Strike Fighter...

Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) asked two senior Air Force officials at a special House hearing what would be their top four preferred options for tanker recapitalization. Lt. Gen. Christopher Kelly, Air Mobility Command Vice Commander, told the House Armed Services...

Michael Kennedy, one of the principal authors of the RAND Analysis of Alternatives on tanker recapitalization, says the Pentagon soon would release a public summary providing the AOA’s “preferred candidates.” He told lawmakers at the House Armed Services hearing Tuesday...

According to the latest data, the Air Force has flown more than 188,000 sorties in Iraq and another 130,000 in Afghanistan. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, told lawmakers Wednesday that USAF had flown...

The Air Force this year will begin operational fielding of the precision engagement modification for its fleet of A-10 close air support aircraft. The Air Force’s two top leaders said at a Wednesday House Armed Services Committee meeting that the...

Air Force Special Operations Command can expect to get four AC-130 Gunships this year and 10 MC-130H Combat Talon IIs by 2010, if Congress approves Air Force budget plans. Air Force leaders Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley told members...

If their luck holds, the Air National Guard’s Happy Hooligans not only will be flying Predator unmanned aerial vehicles but also C-130s airlifters. Faced with becoming solely armchair pilots, the airmen of the 119th Fighter Wing at Fargo, N.D., are...

The Air Force says it plans to fly Predators out of Grand Forks AFB, N.D., but the base does not have a crosswind runway when wind speeds are high. Without a crosswind runway, reports the Associated Press news service, Predators...

The head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John Warner (R-Va.), and a chief Air Force critic, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), still are stalling the confirmation of former acting Air Force Secretary Michael Domniguez to be Undersecretary of Defense for...

Lockheed Martin has just delivered the first C-130J Hercules airlifter for 2006 to Air Force Reserve Command’s 403rd Wing at Keesler AFB, Miss. This new longer-fuselage J model is the fifth of eight new Hercules that the unit will gain....

Pentagon Plots Appeal on NSPS Labor Decision: DOD officials say they will work with the Justice Department to appeal the decision by US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan that faulted the collective bargaining provision, among other things, in the new...

February 28, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 9 5 – 14 CAS/Armed Recon 56 22 – 78 Airlift – – 160 160 Air refueling – – 30 30 Total 65 27 190 282 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...