A key question for most lawmakers at Friday’s House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing was whether the Air Force has made any progress in reining in cost and schedule problems on new space systems. Panel Chairwoman Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.)...

Talking about the Air Force’s new “block” strategy for space acquisition, Ronald Sega, Undersecretary of the Air Force and DOD Space Executive Agent, told lawmakers Friday that development of the next generation Global Positioning System satellites—GPS III—already has been through...

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) questioned Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, about the “duplication” he sees in the Defense Department’s unmanned aerial vehicle arena, keying particularly on the Army desire to buy more than a hundred UAVs that fly at...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers last week that the Pentagon’s arguments for not sustaining a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter “revolve around economics” and models that “do not contemplate this fighter being in service for...

The Air Force wants DOD to restore five C-130J tactical airlifters it ripped from the supplemental to fund additional ground forces—above the 21,000 initially cited by the Administration. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told appropriators last week, “When the Office...

Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart Jr. accepted command of NORAD and US Northern Command during a ceremony Friday at Peterson AFB, Colo., replacing Adm. Timothy Keating. Keating is to take command of US Pacific Command today. Renuart, who last served...

The technicians at the Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, Utah, have completed a precision engagement modification of an A-10 Warthog 14 days early, even as development and design of the mod are still ongoing. Greg Hoffman, director of...

Beijing treated Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to take a close look at its top line fighters, including a Chinese-built Su-27 fighter-bomber. DOD journalist Jim Garamone reports that Chinese officials said Pace is...

The KC-X program may be even more valuable than the $40 billion tanker modernization competition would suggest. The chosen airframe could also replace USAF’s fleet of large intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft, much as the KC-135 platform has been adapted for today’s ISR...

The commander of the 389th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Lt. Col. Phillip Hoover, did fly the last flight in his lead F-16CJ, ceremonially marking the end of the unit’s role as a Viper squadron. The ceremony didn’t...

Retired Lt. Col. Chase J. Nielsen died Friday at his home in Brigham City, Utah. Nielsen was one of the famed Doolittle Raiders, who flew a surprise air strike against the Japanese home islands in April 1942. Nielson was born...

March 21, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 7 22 CAS/Armed Recon 64 54 118 Airlift 145 145 Air refueling 43 43 Total 79 61 188 328 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance