Platform Agnostic

Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, director of the Air National Guard, said Wednesday he does not care which new fighter aircraft the Air Guard receives as long as it possesses the attributes needed to execute the air sovereignty alert mission effectively...

QDR Scrutinizing Two-War Concept

The Pentagon’s new Quadrennial Defense Review is taking a hard look at the two major theater war planning construct, a senior OSD official told defense reporters Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “It’s not dead,” said David Ochmanek, deputy assistant secretary of...

Gloomy Forecast

Assuming no real growth in defense spending over the five-year future years defense plan, the military services are being asked to draw up a list of “bill payers” from less essential programs and initiatives to pay for the capabilities that...

Fighter Sale to Iraq Mulled

Iraq would like to obtain fighter aircraft so that it can protect its airspace, and with the US preparing for a pullout, the topic is coming to light. So claims UPI news wire service, which reported yesterday that the issue...

Tweet Retirement

The Air Force will officially retire the T-37 twin-engine trainer aircraft on Friday at a ceremony at Sheppard AFB, Tex. The service began using the Tweet in 1957 and has trained more than 78,000 pilots in it, according to a...

Safety Upgrade

Airmen at Andersen AFB, Guam, have completed a $6.1 million project to install four state-of-the-art instrument landing systems at the base’s air field. These new Selex 2100 Series ILS allow pilots to utilize any one of Andersen’s four landing approaches...

Minuteman Engine Tests Conclude

Engineers at the Arnold Engineering Development Center on the grounds of Arnold AFB, Tenn., earlier this month completed testing of Minuteman III rocket motors in support of the Minuteman III propulsion replacement program. Under PRP, the Air Force brought on...

Making the Pitch

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard was in Washington, D.C., last week to reiterate the state’s support for Luke Air Force Base becoming a home to F-35 stealth fighter training. The Peoria Times of Peoria, Ariz., reported yesterday that Goddard met...

First Navy F-35 Rolls Out

Lockheed Martin yesterday rolled out the first F-35C, the variant of the stealth fighter optimized for operations from big-deck aircraft carriers, at its assembly plant in Fort Worth, Tex. This aircraft, designated CF-1, is the ninth F-35 test aircraft to...

Important Cog in the Wheel

Thirteenth Air Force’s air and space operations center, the 613th AOC at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, was the nerve center for airpower during Talisman Saber 2009, a two-week command post and field-training exercise between US and Australian forces that concluded July...

Standout Logistician

TSgt. Alisha Cua, an air transportation specialist assigned to Air Mobility Command’s standardization, programs, and resources branch at Scott AFB, Ill., has won the National Defense Transportation Association International Junior Executive Leadership Award. The award, which she will receive at...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJuly 25, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 24 24 48 8,636 CAS/Armed Recon 22 71 93 19,660 Airlift 57 57 27,092 Air refueling 57 57 9,488 Total 238 64,876...