Simply put, Gen, Arthur Lichte, commander of Air Mobility Command, says he is “awestruck by the professionalism, dedication, and accomplishments” of the men and women under his command. “I've had a chance to spend time at almost every organizational level in the command—beginning with the AMC headquarters staff and ending at the unit level for my KC-10 flight training,” Lichte writes in a Jan. 4 letter chronicling his impressions from the first 100 days in his new post. “Everywhere across the command, the pride and service of the total mobility partnership is humbling. These mobility airmen—active duty, Reserve, Air National Guard, civilians, family members, and industry partners—truly form a critical part of our championship team.”

The number of sorties flown during 2007 over Iraq and Afghanistan greatly increased in both operational arenas compared to 2006. Close Air Support sorties climbed to nearly 20,000 in Iraq and nearly 14,000 in Afghanistan, compared to about 16,000 and...

Australia intends to press US lawmakers for the rights to acquire the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. So reports that country’s Herald Sun, citing comments by Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon. “I intend to pursue American politicians for access to the Raptor,”...

Developmental flight-testing of the RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 unmanned aerial vehicle is scheduled to commence next month at Edwards AFB, Calif. The first Block 30 aircraft arrived at Edwards in November. The Block 30 is the only variant of...

The Air Force is advancing plans to field a new Combat Rescue Tanker next decade to refuel special mission aircraft such as the CV-22 Osprey. The Aeronautical Systems Center has announced that it intends to issue a request for proposal...

The new boss of Air Force Space Command, Gen. Robert Kehler, plans to implement recommendations from the “Lanes in the Road Study” ordered last year by his predecessor Gen. Kevin Chilton, now head of US Strategic Command. In a memo...

The Air Force Research Laboratory is investigating how to design micro air vehicles so that they can stay aloft for much longer than is currently possible. Under one novel idea, tiny sensor aircraft in need of a recharge would attach...

One of the two bases at the core of USAF’s Bent Spear misadventure last year will undergo a nuclear surety inspection this month, but the prime inspectee will be the space wing not the bomb wing. Air Force Space Command...

The Air Force is utilizing the world’s only quiet hypersonic wind tunnel at Purdue University to support the X-51A WaveRider Scramjet Engine Demonstrator program. The tunnel, developed by Boeing and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, is unique in...

The Air Force is not alone in experiencing a stand down of combat aircraft such as the F-15. The Associated Press says (report via International Herald Tribune) that 70 Italian Air Force 70 AMX fighter aircraft are now grounded “indefinitely...

The 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard AFB, Tex., has received its first two T-6 Texan II trainers, marking the start of the conversion from the T-37 Tweet for the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, reports the Times Record...

The Air Force has a new cartoonist to depict the (mis)adventures of a fighter pilot. However, unlike the heroic “Steve Canyon” of World War II fames, the fictional “1st Lt. Kenneth Dahl” is more in the genre of “Beetle Bailey.”...

Jan. 3-5, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 64 10 74 CAS/Armed Recon 171 93 264 Airlift 387 387 Air refueling 129 129 Total 235 103 516 854 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...