Outrage, Joy Greet Tanker Decision

It’s two against one in the high-stakes game of who gets the tanker. The Northrop Grumman/EADS team has won—the first round—the contract to produce the first batch of new aerial refueling aircraft for the Air Force, but the award ignited...

Assembled in America

Prospective employees of a KC-45A tanker assembly facility in Mobile, Ala., reportedly are praising the Air Force’s decision (see above) to award the tanker contract to the Northrop Grumman/EADS team. Alabama lawmakers consider the award, despite its non-Buy American aspect,...

“Shocked” in Washington, “Mad” in Kansas

Lawmakers who supported Boeing in the great tanker contest met with Air Force officials to discuss the award to the rival Northrop Grumman/EADS team and came away still wanting answers to “a lot of tough questions,” said Sen. Patty Murray...

The Task at Hand

It’s time to move the issue forward of whether the US should push ahead with a new nuclear weapon design called the Reliable Replacement Warhead, the general in charge of overseeing the nation’s nuclear triad said Tuesday. “I really do...

Self Cleansing

The US military now believes that all—yes, all—debris created in space from last month’s successful intercept of a non-functioning, deorbiting intelligence satellite will re-enter the atmosphere “in about the next 60 to 90 days,” Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, commander...

Weighing In on Next Bomber

Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, as head of STRATCOM, says he needs USAF’s 2018 bomber to have two attributes. “I need it to be nuclear capable because we still expect it to be part of our nuclear defense posture in...

No Chutes, Honest:

The Air Force has decided it can save money and time by removing the parachutes from KC-135 aircraft, known for their safe flying record, according to officials with Air Force Reserve Command’s 931st Air Refueling Group at McConnell AFB, Kan....

AAF Pilot, Smithsonian Deputy Lopez Dies:

Donald S. Lopez, an Army Air Forces pilot of World War II, engineer, test pilot, author, historian, and a longtime leader of the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum, died March 3 after suffering a heart attack. He was 84. After...

Behind the GPS Receivers:

Technicians at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia maintain the US military’s Global Positioning System receivers, serving as the central warehouse for developing and testing software for GPS receivers. The technicians comprise the Joint Service System Management Office...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest Asia

March 2-3, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 52 14 66 1,614 CAS/Armed Recon 108 93 201 4,988 Airlift 295 295 7,437 Air refueling 86 86 2,350 Total 648 16,389 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...