Murtha’s Panel Backs Second Engine:

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has declared defense appropriators want the Pentagon to pursue the alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Megan Scully of CongressDaily reports that the House Appropriations defense subcommittee has included $480 million in the Fiscal...

ISR Tactics Scrub:

Air Force and coalition counterparts in Southwest Asia routinely meet to discuss weapons and tactics—at an operational level. “This is our chance to ask ourselves if we’re doing what we need to do to achieve the desired effects and decide...

Always Thinking:

Air Force B-1B maintainers deployed to the 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit in Southwest Asia have remedied a weapons loading safety concern caused by the locale’s intense heat that was magnified by running the aircraft’s auxiliary power units. The heat registered...

Kadena Gets AESA 2:

The Air Force has sent six of its “Golden” F-15s, those receiving upgrades including the latest radars—the Active Electronic Scanned Array System version 2—to Kadena AB, Japan, on the island of Okinawa. Over the next 10 years, the Air Force...

Better Intel Sharing?:

The chief information officers of the Defense Department and Director of National Intelligence have signed a memorandum of agreement to “achieve seamless sharing and multi-partner operations” through Web-based capabilities. The intent is to provide both better analysis and increased access...

Navy, USAF Aid Ground Comm:

Last year the Air Force added a roll-on communications package—known as Jackpot—to some C-130 airlifters flying over Iraq to aid ground communications from one unit or convoy to another. The Navy also has adapted its E-6B Mercury to augment ground...

Latest Rodeo in Full Swing:

The 2007 Air Mobility Command Rodeo, running now through July 28 at McChord AFB, Wash., comprises 45 US teams from the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, and nine international teams and another 25 countries that sent observers. The...

Connecting EOD in the Field:

The Air Force has sent numerous satellite communications systems, known as the very small aperture terminal, to Southwest Asia for use by explosive ordnance disposal technicians. The portable VSAT enables the EOD airmen to make calls and send and receive...

USAF Aids Japanese Quake Victims:

The 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota AB, Japan, airlifted 10,000 pounds of water and 100 air conditioning units to the Japanese prefecture hit by the July 16 earthquake, reports SrA. Veronica Pierce. The US Ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, and...

Giving More Time:

The Air National Guard has extended the public comment period to Aug. 15 for its plan to lower the ceiling for training flights over parts of Maine. The Original Irregular of Kingfield, Maine, reports that the Massachusetts Air Guard plan...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

July 18, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 12 27 CAS/Armed Recon 69 35 104 Airlift 136 136 Air refueling 48 48 Total 84 47 184 315 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...