If Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chair of the Senate Armed Services AirLand panel, has his way the 2007 defense budget will be $1.2 billion lighter in the Joint Strike Fighter account. In its markup of the 2007 defense authorization bill,...

Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees added funds to continue with development of an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Pentagon, you remember, wants to can the General Electric version of the fighter’s power plant...

The Senate Armed Services Committee would provide $2.6 billion in the 2007 defense budget to extend production of the C-17 airlifter. In its markup of the defense bill it authorized purchase of two more C-17 airlifters than the 12 requested...

The Senate defied its majority leader and the threat of a Presidential veto in passing a highly padded version of the 2006 emergency supplemental for the war on terror and hurricane recovery. The more than $14 billion bump up to...

According to the head of the National Guard Bureau, the Guard is in “very serious negotiations” with the Air Force over the proposed personnel cuts to the Air National Guard. As part of its five-year plan to cut some 40,000...

The head of Air Force Reserve Command recently told lawmakers that there is a “huge amount of realignment going on” that affects about 13,000 Reservists—all of whom AFRC is trying to place in a new unit, if they want to...

The House appropriators working on 2007 funding for Veterans Affairs and military construction would provide nearly a billion less than the Administration’s 2007 request. According to the House Appropriations Committee markup, the panel would fund about $100 million less for...

Air Force Reserve Command’s 934th Airlift Wing, Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport/ARS, Minn., joined forces with the Army’s 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, at Ft. Richardson, Alaska, to ensure both are getting the most out of Red Flag-Alaska 06-2....

The 2006 Force Shaping Board has identified 843 junior officers who must leave the service by Sept. 29. According to officials at Air Force Personnel Center, the officers will receive personal notification of their retention status by May 10. The...

Cooperating with NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing’s Phantom Works is moving ahead with “exploring and validating” the structural, aerodynamic, and operational advantages of a new aircraft design, called blended wing body, that USAF has designated X-48B. According...

The 22nd Space Operations Squadron’s detachment based at RAF Oakhanger, Britain, recently acquired a new 43-foot Antedo antenna, replacing a legacy antenna at the site. The new antenna is a key part of the Air Force Satellite Control Network and...

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences has bestowed the 2006 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research upon the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins AFB, Ga. The ALC won the award, which is considered...

Boeing recently announced plans to use the Melrose Bombing Range in New Mexico for unmanned aerial vehicle training flights, but the Portales (N.M.) News-Tribune reports the announcement is unrelated to the search for a new mission for nearby Cannon Air...

Pentagon acquisition guru Ken Krieg has asked the Defense Science Board to form a task force to examine DOD’s energy strategy—everything from operational and strategic constraints inherent in aerial tanking to the high cost of delivering energy to the battlefield...

The envelope-pushers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory are working on a new information capability that, according to releases and contract announcement, would be able to “learn” general plans and processes “from human...

May 4, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 5 17 CAS/Armed Recon 54 20 74 Airlift 175 175 Air refueling 37 37 Total 66 25 212 303 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance