It looks like the Air Force’s F-22A Raptor fighter will be back in the Congressional spotlight this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s airland panel has set July 25 (Tuesday) for a new hearing. The subject: USAF’s multiyear procurement plan...

The Department of Defense has given the green light for $348 million in construction work at New Jersey’s Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base, as part of a consolidation of three area bases into one. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.),...

The F-35 Lightning II faces a potential $1.2 billion cut in its budget for the next fiscal year. In its recently approved 2007 Defense Appropriations bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee decided to delay production for one year. (The panel approved...

Things are going to get tight around the Air Force in the next several months and years, so it’s best to get used to trying to figure out what each airman brings to the effort and make sure it is...

During last week’s confirmation hearing for the Air Force’s top acquisition post, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) needled nominee Sue Payton about his favorite current Air Force programs–the F-22 and F-35 fighters. “There’s a great question now arising about the affordability...

A medical team from Ramstein AB, Germany was dispatched late last week to support the Pentagon’s evacuation of Americans from Lebanon, after being requested by the US Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus. The dozen members of the medical team are supporting...

The US and Japan are set to start deploying the Patriot anti-missile system on the island’s mainland, along with 600 troops from Ft. Bliss, Tex. The PAC-3 system will be deployed at first on American military sites in Japan, with...

The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga. has netted three more of the Shingo Public Sector Prizes for excellence in manufacturing, Maj. Gen. Michael Collings—the center’s commander—announced July 21. The ALC won a gold prize for its work with the...

More than 200 airmen from RAF Lakenheath, Britain are deployed to the Graf Ignatievo Air Base in Bulgaria to participate in Immediate Response 2006—a trilateral exercise in which flight surgeons and medical technicians help airmen stay healthy for the duration...

The Swedish Air Force flew seven of its Gripen fighters from Sweden on July 13 to Alaska where they joined Pacific Air Forces’ Cooperative Cope Thunder exercise for the first time. The five day journey took the fighters from Sweden...

The Farnborough Air Show in England last week proved to be busy time for aviation and defense types—with a little sniping thrown in as well. It all started with Boeing Chairman James McNerney throwing a barb at EADS by asserting...

Lockheed Martin announced Friday that it has completed initial testing of the kill vehicle divert thruster for the Missile Defense Agency’s Multiple Kill Vehicle Payload System. The testing of the thruster and valves on the component took place on July...

Two dozen airmen from Charleston AFB, S.C. recently participated in an international mission to invade the North Carolina coast—as part of an exercise called Operation Iron Thunder. The C-17 airmen helped wrap up a four-day joint training session involving 100...

The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base announced Friday that the fifth GPS Block IIR satellite has been completed and is scheduled to be launched from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. on Sept. 14. The satellite...

July 20, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 7 21 CAS/Armed Recon 45 23 68 Airlift 170 170 Air refueling 38 38 Total 59 30 208 297 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance