Northrop Grumman has unveiled the first production version of the next generation Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle—the Block 20 RQ-4B. The new version of the high-flying—and much in demand—UAV has to go through a series of final systems tests and...

Under BRAC 2005, the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing at Fort Smith, Ark., has to trade its F-16 Vipers for A-10 Warthogs, a change expected to begin this October, reports the Arkansas News Bureau. Unlike many of their...

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believes it’s only prudent to employ ICBMs with conventional warheads to counter threats by weapons of mass destruction. Rumsfeld, who was speaking at a news conference Sunday in Alaska with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, asserted...

Donald Rumsfeld told reporters in Alaska Sunday that America’s fledgling missile defense capability needs more testing, but “with each passing month [it] has become more capable.” However, the US Defense Secretary wants to see a full system test, “where we...

The Air Force has awarded dual $49 million contracts to begin “major efforts to develop new or enhanced technologies” leading “into propulsion systems for a prompt global strike capability, a land-based strategic deterrent, and an operational responsive space lift system.”...

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has asked South Korea to pony up more for US forces on the peninsula as Seoul pushes for greater control in a new command relationship. The Korea Times reports that Rumsfeld wrote in a letter to...

The 32nd running of Ulchi Focus Lens is underway at Osan AB, South Korea. The UFL exercise tests command post elements for US and South Korea forces. Lt. Gen. Garry Trexler, 7th Air Force commander, says UFL helps teach younger...

The anti-noise crowd around Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., are on notice that the base’s noise level will increase, while 38 Air National Guard F-16s use Davis-Monthan for their home base during runway resurfacing at the Tucson Airport. Earlier this month, some...

The airmen who secure Air Force Space Command’s ICBM fields are dedicated to that one mission. As Col. John McBrien, head of the 91st Security Forces Group at Minot AFB, N.D., explains: “I don’t own the base. I don’t own...

Having barely transitioned back to their assigned home station at Peterson AFB, Colo., after a year’s deployment in Southwest Asia, several returning airmen with Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd Airlift Wing joined other wing members to swing into fire-fighting mode,...

The Icemen of the Eielson AFB, Alaska, and airmen and soldiers at Balad AB, Iraq, held memorials for MSgt. Brad A. Clemmons, who was killed Aug. 21 when his convoy vehicle struck an improvised explosive device on the way to...

Airmen at Keesler AFB, Miss., see the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation as a benchmark in a remarkable process of recovery. Katrina, which wreaked nearly $1 billion in damage to the base, had forced evacuation of the base’s student...

Air and Army National Guard members of Arkansas’s 61st Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team sharpened their rapid response skills in a weapons of mass destruction training exercise last week at Kirtland AFB, N.M. As part of a course at...

Aug. 25-27, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 44 24 68 CAS/Armed Recon 110 89 199 Airlift 470 470 Air refueling 112 112 Total 154 113 582 849 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance