Reuters news service reported Sunday that the Air Force had delayed arrival of 12 F-22A Raptors at Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa. They were due to arrive over the weekend, following a temporary layover at Hickam...
The Fiscal 2008 Air Force budget request forecasts a maximum of 48 F-35s to be bought well into the next decade. That’s “the wrong number,” Air Combat Command chief Gen. Ronald Keys told AFA Air Warfare Symposium attendees on Friday....
The Air Force’s budget enemies have finished beating up on the F-22 now that the aircraft is in the field and working beautifully, and the buy has been truncated to 183 airplanes, says Gen. Ron Keys, head of Air Combat...
Questioned about the rate of F-35 purchases he mentioned in his presentation Friday at AFA’s Orlando symposium, Gen. Ron Keys said that if the F-35 numbers don’t come up, a costly F-16 SLEP is a near-certainty. The head of Air...
The notion that an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle is comparable to the F-16, but at far less cost—offered in some recent press reports—is absolutely wrong, per Gen. Ronald Keys, head of Air Combat Command. Keys told Air Force Magazine...
Air Mobility Command aircraft operating in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq were shot at 215 times in 2006, Gen. Duncan McNabb, AMC commander, told attendees at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium Friday. That’s the bad news. The good news...
Just over half the attacks on US mobility aircraft were by small arms fire, with most of the rest being rocket or rocket-propelled grenade attacks, said Gen. Duncan McNabb, Air Mobility Command boss. Only a few were Stinger-type missile attacks....
Gen. William Looney, head of Air Education and Training Command, sat down with Air Force magazine during AFA’ Orlando symposium to talk about changes to some of the Air Force’s training programs, including a new approach that will shorten the...
With the growing demand for battlefield airmen—from tactical air controllers to pararescuers—Gen. William Looney, head of Air Education and Training Command, said AETC plans to stand up a common schoolhouse by Fiscal 2011. The first class, which will develop basic...
One of the weapons getting a lot of use—and little attention—in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the good old gun. The A-10 Warthog has been doing a lot of strafing with its 30 mm cannon, which is often just the right...
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley said Thursday afternoon at AFA’s Orlando symposium that there “undoubtedly” will be a Nunn-McCurdy breach on the C-5 Avionics Modernization Program and Reliability and Re-engining Program. Once that...
Gen. Paul Hester, commander of Pacific Air Forces, plans to take possession next month of PACAF’s first F-22A Raptor. He told attendees at AFA’s Orlando symposium that he is going to Marietta, Ga., to pick up the first Elmendorf AFB,...
The Air Force probably will shift its alternative-fuels sights to the KC-135 tanker after it completes testing a 50-50 synthetic fuel blend on a B-52 bomber. Once the service is satisfied with the performance of the test-BUFF’s eight TF33 engines...
In Afghanistan, Air Mobility Command enabled Operation Tiger Crossing, Gen. Duncan McNabb said at AFA’s Orlando symposium Friday. The AMC boss said Mobility Command transported Bailey Bridges aboard C-17s, flying them from Aviano AB, Italy to Bagram AB, Afghanistan. The...
Gen. Paul Hester, head of Pacific Air Forces, said PACAF was “surprised by the speed” at which China brought its new J-10 fighter from development to squadron service. “It was a little faster than we predicted,” he admitted during AFA’s...
Feb. 8, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 17 6 23 CAS/Armed Recon 46 35 81 Airlift 125 125 Air refueling 29 29 Total 63 41 154 258 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance