At least one senior Pentagon official has decided to openly chastise lawmakers who would imperil DOD’s Joint Strike Fighter plans—specifically the elimination of a second engine maker and the buy approach. Acquisition chief Ken Krieg told Reuters news service that...

The Air Force-industry team behind the Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellite Mission Control Segment (ASMCS) system recently demonstrated to visitors in Colorado Springs, Colo., just how the system will function with both AEHF and Milstar communications satellites. The AEHF sats,...

Inside the Strike Eagle Raid: One of the F-15E Strike Eagle pilots behind last week’s strike on a cave complex in Afghanistan for Operation Mountain Lion said identifying the caves dug into a 7,000-foot snow-capped mountain and masked by the...

The F-22A Raptor will make its Pacific theater debut in June when 12 of the new stealth fighters from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., participate in Alaska’s Northern Edge 2006 exercise. Hosted by US Alaskan Command, the...

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force-select Rodney McKinley says he has no plans to make immediate changes when he takes charge as the Air Force’s top enlisted man on July 1. McKinley noted during an Air Force interview that...

French forces have returned to the coalition fight in Afghanistan, flying on May 2 their first mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since November 2005. Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, the deputy Combined Force Air Component Commander, said...

AFRC Airmen Help Rescue Skier: Two weeks after completing a joint search-and-rescue exercise with local Oregon-based first responders, Air Force Reserve Command airmen with the 304th Rescue Squadron, Portland, Ore., were dispatched to Mount Hood on May 6 for a...

A just-released Harris Poll suggests that half of all US adults believe it is likely or very likely that there will be a new war (52 percent) involving many American troops and a major terror attack in the US (49...

Otis to Get Intel Mission: The Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 102nd Fighter Wing will trade in its F-15s for a new intelligence-gathering mission, slated to begin late next year, according to several news reports. It appears that the head of...

House Passes Fallen Heroes Act: The House has passed the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act, which would prohibit demonstrations at national cemeteries and restricts any demonstration within 500 feet during a military funeral or service 60 minutes before and...

Same as it Ever Was: Delivering his seventh state of the nation address to the Russian parliament Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin described the US as a “fortress” and urged his country to spend more on its military. According to a...

Australia Funds Four C-17s: The new budget for Australia’s defense expenditures provides $1.9 billion for the acquisition of up to four Boeing C-17 airlifters, confirms a May 9 statement from the office of Minister of Defense Brendan Nelson. The folks...

Divine Strake Delayed: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s “Divine Strake” test planned for June 2 in Nevada has been postponed, due to a lawsuit filed by the Western Shoshone tribe. According to The (St. George, Utah) Spectrum, the tribe has...

May 9, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 6 20 CAS/Armed Recon 58 18 76 Airlift 170 170 Air refueling 34 34 Total 72 24 204 300 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance