Cutting some $450 billion from the defense budget over the next decade will be difficult, yet manageable, said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Thursday on Capitol Hill. But forced severe reductions beyond that level would “truly devastate our national defense,” he...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday he will apply four guidelines in determining where to make some $450 billion in cuts across the Pentagon over the next decade in order to help reduce the federal deficit. The first is to...

The Air Force is committed to fielding the KC-46A tanker “on time and on budget,” said David Van Buren, USAF’s acquisition executive, Thursday. “As we work toward the low-rate initial production decision scheduled for late Fiscal Year 2015, we are...

The Air Force will have to sustain KC-135 tankers until they are more than 80 years old on average and its KC-10s past an average age of 54 as it executes its tanker modernization plan, Maj. Gen. Bruce Litchfield, special...

The malware detected on stand-alone computer systems at Creech AFB, Nev., has not affected the Air Force’s remotely piloted aircraft operations, said officials with 24th Air Force, USAF’s cyber operations arm, at Peterson AFB, Colo. “[W]e felt it important to...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is accelerating by three years the timetable for the Pentagon achieving audit readiness. The Defense Department is under the statutory deadline to be audit-ready by the end of Fiscal 2017. However, “I’ve directed the department to...

Some of the moves the Air Force leadership is mulling concerning the Air National Guard thanks to the tightening defense budget include removing its C-5As, cutting three F-16 wings, some 76 C-130s and some A-10s, and even terminating acquisition of...

Should acquisition of Air Force C-27J transports fall victim to the budget axe, that would have a “huge impact” on the Army’s CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters, said Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, Army Reserve chief. The C-27s were “designed to take...

US Central Command's official investigation determined that an insurgent-fired rocket-propelled grenade—not tactical error—caused the crash of an Army CH-47 helicopter that killed 30 US servicemen and eight Afghans on Aug. 6. "This mission, and the tactics and resources employed in its execution, were consistent with previous US special operations missions and the strike forces selected . . . were appropriate," investigating officer Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt wrote in the investigating team's report summary, released on Wednesday. Based on wreckage, accounts, and footage, investigators concluded that an RPG struck the helicopter's aft rotor as it approached the landing zone, severing a blade and disintegrating both of the helicopter's two rotors. The "main fuselage dropped vertically" exploding on impact, according to investigation team findings. Engaged in a night mission to kill or capture a Taliban leader in Wardak province, Afghanistan, three airmen were among the victims. (CENTCOM release) (Report executive summary; caution, large-sized file.)

Members of the 603rd Air and Space Operations Center inaugurated their new 60,800 square-foot command facility at Ramstein AB, Germany. The new building provides the center’s 400 personnel with 553 workstations, 1,500 computers, and 40 communication systems to execute their...

The Air National Guard has not received a formal plan yet detailing how the Air Force intends to recapitalize the Air Guard’s aging fighter fleet, said Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, ANG director, Wednesday. “I have not seen that plan yet,”...

The Air Force recently handed control of Iraq’s final airspace sector to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority, returning airspace sovereignty to the Iraqis for the first time since 2003. Iraqi air traffic controllers took full responsibility for managing the Baghdad/Balad...