Air National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt and Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner said Thursday USAF’s move to 179-day air and space expeditionary force rotations will not be a problem for the service’s part-time warriors. But...
The “pacing threat” from China, coming at the same time as profound financial austerity within the Pentagon, played a big role in the Air Force and Navy establishing the new AirSea Battle concept, said Lt. Gen. Herbert Carlisle, deputy chief...
Missile defense in Europe has great potential to bring the United States and its allies closer together, but a great deal of work lies ahead, said Gen. Mark Welsh, US Air Forces in Europe commander, Thursday. That’s especially true in...
Building a well-rounded, resilient Air Force is a top priority for senior leaders, but there are still plenty of signs that a decade of war is taking its toll on the force. The number of alcohol-related incidents is hovering around...
The US military’s overriding concern in Central and South America is the smuggling of drugs and weapons and the human trafficking across the region that generate some $394 billion each year, said Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander of US Southern Command,...
The average age of an aircraft in the Air Force’s inventory is now about 25 years, Gen. Donald Hoffman, Air Force Materiel Command boss, said Thursday. But just looking at that number actually understates the problem of old aircraft, Hoffman...
Now that national attention is focused on nuclear affairs thanks to the ratification debate on the New START agreement with Russia, it’s up to advocates of the US military’s strategic deterrence mission to ensure the touted nuclear investment and modernization...
The Air Force’s future bomber will demand equally futuristic bombs.”We hope to build an aircraft . . . in the mid twenties, [so] why would we build that aircraft to carry the weaponry of today,” Gen. Philip Breedlove, USAF vice...
While Air Force Special Operations Command commandos don’t knock down integrated air defenses, these silent professionals do depend on air, cyber, and space superiority to conduct operations in the “enemy seams,” said Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster, AFSOC commander. “In general...
The Air Force is looking for “as close a match” as possible between “fifth generation capabilities” and the new T-X trainer aircraft, says Gen. Edward Rice, Air Education and Training Command boss. Speaking with reporters Thursday at AFA’s Air Warfare...
The Air Force needs a new trainer aircraft, provisionally dubbed the T-X, to prepare fighter and bomber pilots to fly its fifth generation aircraft, but officials have not yet determined how many airframes they will procure, what they will look...
While 10 years of conflict in Southwest Asia have now occurred under the assumption of air superiority and sea control, the capabilities of potential adversaries are rendering many of these operational concepts obsolete in the Pacific, said Gen. Gary North,...
Discussing East Asia on Thursday, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Gary North noted two Pacific island chains that serve as important geographical markers for military planners. Several US military bases—like Kadena AB, Japan—fall within these chains and the Chinese appear...
Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command boss, said Thursday he wants to see cyber tasking orders carry the same credence as air tasking orders. It’s critical that commanders understand that refusing such orders or delaying them can put troops...
Global Positioning System navigation and timing signals, used widely both in the civilian and military sectors, are under threat from a new commercial broadband network, said Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command commander, Thursday. The Federal Communications Commission recently...
Reports that the Gorgon Stare pod set isn’t working properly are overblown, Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser said Thursday. The pod set, meant to vastly multiply the sensor take from MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, is designed to...
The need for global precision attack “has not diminished,” according to Gen. William Fraser, Air Combat Command commander. Enemies have adapted to the capabilities of the Air Force “and will continue to adapt,” Fraser told attendees at AFA’s Air Warfare...
The recent appearance of China’s J-20 stealth airplane is a reminder that USAF can’t “take for granted” that it will always have air superiority, said Gen. William Fraser, head of Air Combat Command, in his remarks Thursday at AFA’s Air...
The Air Force has pulled out all the stops in trying to meet the demand for remotely piloted aircraft operations in forward theaters, but the pace is unsustainable, Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser said Thursday. Speaking to AFA’s...
The Air Force needs to continue supporting the joint fight, tackle skyrocketing space acquisition costs, and normalize operations in cyberspace, said Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command boss, Thursday in outlining his strategic priorities for space. “We’ve got to...
The nation faces “some tough choices ahead” when it comes to fielding major new weapons systems that are now just in their infancy, like the Air Force’s next bomber and Navy’s future ballistic missile submarine, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates...
The Air Force’s future bomber is “vital for the future,” said Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Wednesday. “We actually went through a very, very rigorous debate and review and analysis to get to the conclusion...
Defense Department acquisition chief Ashton Carter on Wednesday pressed Congress to complete defense appropriations legislation for the current fiscal year, asserting that “anti-efficient” delays are driving up DOD’s acquisition costs. “It’s Feb. 16, and we don’t have an appropriations bill...
The House on Wednesday voted to stop funding the General Electric-Rolls Royce F136 engine, by a vote of 233 to 198. The House action stripped $450 million for the F136 from the new continuing resolution now under debate that would...
The future of the Space Based Space Surveillance satellite program is not clear. The Defense Department has tasked Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, who serves as the DOD executive agent for space, to look at a range of alternatives to...
GEO-1, the Air Force’s first Space Based Infrared Systems early warning satellite passed final exams and is cleared for launch aboard an Atlas V rocket this spring, prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday. Confidence testing at Lockheed’s plant in Sunnydale,...
The helmet under development for F-35 pilots is having problems, said Vice Adm. David Venlet, F-35 program executive officer. It’s designed to provide the head-up display, targeting information, and a supposedly seamless panoramic night view of surrounding terrain. But it’s...
Air Mobility Command testers have completed an operational evaluation of a new fuel savings concept called mission index flying, or MIF. It entails C-17 aircrews utilizing software on mission laptop computers in the cockpit to help them fly at optimal...
Airlift units at Peterson AFB, Colo., cut sod on a 12,500-foot C-130 operations center that will soon unite the active duty 52nd Airlift Squadron and Air Force Reserve Command’s 731st Airlift Squadron under one roof. Forming the nexus of the...
The Daily Report is happy to introduce Air Frame. It’s a new photo feature allowing readers—both PC and Mac users—to download a free 1024-pixel by 768-pixel wallpaper-sized version of majestic and awe-inspiring images highlighting airmen, the work they do, and...