A Congressional Research Service analyst told Senators Tuesday that DOD’s decision to continue only with the F135 engine for the Joint Strike Fighter is “incomplete” and quoted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who has said the issue was open for debate....

According to RAdm. Steven Enwold, Joint Strike Fighter program director, the original first test flight date of Aug. 28 has shifted to sometime in October. He also reminded lawmakers at a Senate hearing Tuesday that the first production model to...

Reports of a flaw in the aft fuselage design of the F-22A Raptor prompted Congressional Research Service analyst Christopher Bolkcom to tell a Senate armed services subcommittee Tuesday that the Air Force’s failure to adequately track the F-22A progress exposes the program to “risk.” The Air Staff military deputy for acquisition, Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, countered that the flaw was the result of a “misapplied” standard that calls for the titanium in the forward aft boom to be heat-treated to aid in conduction of the massive amount of heat radiated through the aft portion of the fighter. He maintained, “We have not restricted the aircraft and do not believe it is a safety issue.” Hoffman concurred with the assessment by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) that “the design is completely stable.”

Airmen with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Balad AB, Iraq, man the sensor seat in the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle ground station—controlling the infrared and electro optical sensors, the laser range designator, and laser target monitor. The Balad crews...

Viper Pods Paying Off: Air National Guard F-16s equipped with Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System targeting pods have added a new dimension for ground forces in Southwest Asia, providing high-quality still imagery of tactical objectives. F-16 Vipers from the 332nd Expeditionary...

Air Force Materiel Command’s Arnold Engineering Development Center is running tests on the F118-100 GE engine—the power plant for the Air Force’s B-2 bomber fleet—to ensure the new components of a service life extension program have no detrimental effect on...

Northrop Grumman officials say the company has completed its upgrade of the B-2’s weapons capability—allowing the stealth bomber to deliver five times its previous load of GPS-guided weapons. The company delivered the 54th “smart” bomb rack assembly earlier this month...

The air chiefs of 13 countries, meeting in Amman, Jordan, recently for the fifth Middle East Air Symposium, talked about the challenges that the region is facing and the unconventional uses of air forces in recent operations. Hosted by Jordan’s...

Spang Tries Production Line Maintenance: Mechanics at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, have adopted a production-line method to work on the base’s F-16 engines and expect the nearly month-old changeover to reduce flow days and make the process more predictable. The goal...

Looking for Dedicated Crew Chiefs: Aircraft maintainers at Moody AFB, Ga., plan to get back to the good-old days of the mid-1990s when the base formally taps maintainers who exhibit initiative, leadership, and technical skill in maintaining the base’s HC-130...

The Ramstein View Is Changing: Air Force officials say the creation of the service’s European super base at Ramstein AB, Germany, is proceeding, with 10 of 32 projects still to complete. The first 22, which US Air Forces in Europe...

If Congressman Sam Graves has his way, the Missouri Air National Guard’s 139th Airlift Wing which operates the city-owned air control tower at Rosecrans Airport in St. Joseph, Mo., will get a new tower to train its controllers. The airport...

March 28, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 8 22 CAS/Armed Recon 54 26 80 Airlift 175 175 Air refueling 30 30 Total 68 34 205 307 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance