Government and industry employees converged in Dayton, Ohio, this week to discuss the ins and outs of the pending KC-X tanker competition. It was also an opportunity, says Teresa Rendon of the small business office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, for...

Air Force Special Operations Command is in the midst of Emerald Warrior 07, the first exercise AFSOC has developed entirely on its own, according to an AFSOC news release. The intent is to mix special ops with conventional forces with...

US airmen and other warfighters stand to benefit from a scheduled launch of the latest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft—the F-17 Block 5D-3—aboard a Boeing Delta IV Medium booster from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Nov. 4. The Lockheed Martin-built satellite features...

One current Air Force boom operator likens his manipulation of the refueling boom on a KC-135R tanker to operating a video game—an extremely detailed and exacting video game. SrA. Jered Danielson, an in-flight refueling journeyman from Grand Forks AFB, N.D.,...

The Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, believes its work with Applied Minds Inc, Glendale, Calif., may offer a solution to the devastating brownout effects experiences by US military helicopters flying in Iraq. AFRL asked for industry input for a sensor-type solution earlier this year. Applied Minds has offered at least one promising solution—a photographic landing augmentation system for helicopters, or PhLASH—which basically is a camera mounted on the front of a helicopter. Popular Mechanics reports that PhLASH takes a picture of a landing zone “from as far away as two football fields,” before the helo rotors can kick up dust and sand. The digital image appears on the helo’s instrument panel in front of the flight engineer. The system has been tested on a commercial helicopter, and AFRL plans to try it on an MH-53 in December. One big drawback is the price tag—about $150,000 per PhLASH set up.

The Pentagon has a medal dilemma: Each service applies its own criteria to awarding the “V” device for valor and the Purple Heart. Officials began work last month to set a single, all encompassing standard for medals and devices that...

Lockheed Martin has delivered to Northrop Grumman a pointing and control assembly system for the second geosynchronous orbit satellite in the Space-Based Infrared System constellation, according to a company release. Northrop, which now can begin integrating the PCA into the...

Boeing’s KC-767 tanker recently completed the first test for its fly-by-wire boom telescoping tube, the company announced Thursday. This tanker, which has surpassed 400 flight hours, is destined for Italy. Boeing officials have said that they plan to offer the...

The Air National Guard on Nov. 1 will transfer command of 1st Air Force, based at Tyndall AFB, Fla., from Maj. Gen. Scott Mayes to Maj. Gen. Henry Morrow. Mayes, who plans to retire on Nov. 1, has commanded the...

Sikorsky says it has completed developmental flight tests of its S-92 helicopter, fitted with a search and rescue automatic flight control system. A company news release says the AFCS is “the first to fly automated approaches to a set position...

A majority of Americans think things are going badly for the US in Iraq, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll. Sixty-four percent says the war is going badly, while 35 percent say things are going “very badly.” Only 35...

Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles has contracted with ITT for another two years to provide systems engineering at the nation’s two space launch facilities—the eastern range at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and western...

Air Force Academy cadets are putting the finishing touches on their own handcrafted satellite, set to launch Dec. 7 aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas booster, reports the Colorado Springs Gazette. Cadets expect the satellite to test a new space propulsion...

Cargo movers with the 437th Aerial Port Squadron, Charleston AFB, S.C., the hub for delivering shipments of equipment to Southwest Asia, are streamlining the handling and delivery of those shipments. According to a Charleston news release, the 450 military and...

Oct. 25, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 13 10 23 CAS/Armed Recon 34 31 65 Airlift 150 150 Air refueling 36 36 Total 47 41 186 274 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance