Ground Zero, For Now

The Air Force formally activated Air Force Global Strike Command Provisional yesterday at Bolling AFB, D.C. The provisional command, a temporary unit led by Brig. Gen. James Kowalski, will take the lead in tackling the manpower and resource issues associated...

AFRICOM’s Footprint Manageable, For Now

Despite the increase in operations by US Africa Command—including forthcoming relief flights to support African Union and UN peacekeepers in Sudan—US European Command’s top general said these activities have not yet placed an excessive drain on his assets. “We haven’t...

More on More SBIRS Satellites

We reported last month that the Air Force intends now to procure a fifth and sixth Space Based Infrared System satellite next decade based on a Dec. 1 directive from Pentagon acquisition executive John Young. We’ve learned a little more:...

69th Bomb Squadron?

The new B-52 unit that the Air Force intends to establish at Minot AFB, N.D., will apparently be called the 69th Bomb Squadron. So reported the Minot Daily News Jan. 10, citing a senior Air Force civil engineer who briefed...

It Boils Down to Credibility

Last month, Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens took flak for saying the F-22 might serve as a substitute for nuclear weapons in deterring aggression. But, defense pundit Loren Thompson says he sides with Stevens. In an issue brief from the...

First Test of Next-Generation Engine Successful

Rolls-Royce announced yesterday that it has successfully completed the initial test of the YJ102R advanced propulsion system that it is developing under the Air Force-DARPA high speed turbine engine demonstration, or HiSTED, program. The test took place at the company’s...

Back in the Nevada Desert

More than 40 US and British airmen of the 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, Nev., returned home last month after a several-month deployment to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, where they maintained the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles assigned to the...

Fill’er Up With Synthetic Aviation Fuel, Hal

Air Force Research Lab researchers are developing a robot to refuel the F-35 stealth fighter that they hope will be ready for demonstrational testing early in 2010. The automated aircraft ground refueling system, as it is called, would allow maintenance...

Air Force Academy Recognized

The Princeton Review has named the US Air Force Academy one of the nation’s top 50 public colleges for 2009 in terms of value, based on surveys of administrators and students at hundreds of schools. “The Air Force Academy is...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJan. 8-9, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 54 20 74 359 CAS/Armed Recon 91 123 214 914 Airlift 252 252 1,132 Air refueling 104 104 430 Total 644 2,835...