The Air Force’s Light Cargo Aircraft program and the Army’s Future Cargo Aircraft program officially are now one—the Joint Cargo Aircraft. Confirmation of a formal agreement came Friday afternoon as Brig. Gen. Andrew Dichter, Air Staff deputy director for joint...

At a Friday afternoon press briefing to herald the cooperation of the Air Force and the Army in developing a new Joint Cargo Aircraft, an Air Force general and Army general told reporters that the services would establish a joint...

President Bush on Thursday declared anew a US right to attack foes pre-emptively to ward off grave threats before they have fully materialized. He first enunciated this doctrine in 2002, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks. Many said the...

In his new National Security Strategy, President Bush goes to some lengths to cast harsh light on Iran, one of the original “Axis of Evil” states. “We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran,” Bush...

The Air Force has some reassurances for members of the Senate Armed Services who are rattled by DOD’s plan to drop the F136 engine. Gen. John Corley, Vice Chief of Staff, noted at a recent hearing that the Air Force...

The Air Force’s words are not very reassuring to James Guyette, CEO of Rolls Royce North America. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, if the F136 engine actually is canceled, Pratt & Whitney will enjoy an engine monopoly...

By today, Pentagon officials intent on raising health care fees and co-payments for military retirees should realize they are in for a major and probably unwinnable fight. Reps. Chet Edwards (D-Tex.), House Appropriations Committee, and Walter B. Jones Jr. (R-N.C.),...

The Washington Post, in a March 16 story, presented this gem of a quote from Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs: “Our spending today [on health care for the active, retired, and reserve US military]...

Tale of the Tape on Air Mobility: USAF air mobility forces have been working overtime ever since the war on terror began in 2001. In recent Congressional testimony, Gen. Norton Schwartz, commander of USTRANSCOM, quantified the magnitude of the 2005...

Schwartz pointed out that, amid the wartime operations, Air Mobility Command undertook three major airlift-intensive relief missions. After the Indian Ocean tsunami, Operation Unified Assistance carried, in a very short period, 2,943 passengers and 3,786 short tons of cargo. In...

Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, thinks the F-22 has fairly major structural flaw. The Air Force, on the other hand, thinks not. The contretemps—reported in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer—features Young’s claim that a problem in...

Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of US Northern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that NORTCOM has learned some lessons from Hurricane Katrina. For one thing, Keating told the panel this week, it needs to spruce up its command of...

Northrop Grumman has successfully completed the first of two key fiscal 2006 tests for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor battle management capability, dubbed the KEI Fire Control and Communications system. The test was completed five weeks ahead of schedule on March...

After March 31, Alaska will be on its own plowing snow off the runway at Galena, a Yukon River community 275 miles north of Fairbanks. As reported by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the decision has taken Alaskan officials off guard....

GAO (Yawn) Urges Delay on JSF Authorizations: In its second annual report on the Joint Strike Fighter Program, the Government Accountability Office called on Congress to delay authorizations and appropriations for the fighter pending development of a new business case....

Pew Survey Shows President’s Down on Terror: A new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press show President George Bush’s approval ratings have fallen to a new low in the aftermath of the Dubai Ports...

Two Air Force airmen were killed and one was injured in a March 15 car accident outside the Honduran city of La Ceiba. The airmen had been deployed in support of a joint training exercise called New Horizons 2006-Honduras in...

March 15, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 8 3 – 11 CAS/Armed Recon 32 18 – 50 Airlift – – 190 190 Air refueling – – 29 29 Total 40 21 219 280 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...