Kadena F-15 Crashes; Pilot Safe

An F-15 fighter assigned to Kadena AB, Japan, crashed in the Pacific Ocean about 70 miles east of Okinawa on Monday, announced Air Force officials. Japan Air Self Defense Force rescuers recovered the pilot who ejected from the airplane at...

Modernization Faces the Knife

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley laid out the price of Congress’ continued refusal to accept hard choices and set budgets that the service can plan to. “If there continues to be resistance to force structure changes, to base closures, to...

New Contingencies a Problem

The Air Force is struggling with how it would meet combat commitments after October—if the sequester persists into Fiscal 2014—and may not be able to respond if a new crisis hits, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Speaking with...

Emboldened Enemies?

Rapidly declining US military readiness may spur an enemy to try to take advantage of the situation, acknowledged Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Answering a reporter’s question at a May 24 Pentagon press conference, Welsh said he would “hope...

WGS-5 Launched

The Air Force and its industry partners launched WGS-5, the fifth Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft, into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV booster fired from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. Within an hour of its launch at 8:27...

Welsh Praises Airmen’s Response to Oklahoma Tornado

The deadly tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., last week “completely destroyed” the homes of 140 airmen stationed at nearby Tinker Air Force Base and “at least partially damaged” the homes of 196 other airmen, said Chief of Staff Gen...

Things That Aren’t Going South, or East

The Air Force has had to reduce support to US Southern Command as a result of budget sequestration, said Lt. Gen. Burton Field, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and requirements. “That’s affecting [the command’s] ability to work with...

F-35 Costs Decrease

The Pentagon’s newly issued selected acquisition report to Congress notes a $4.5 billion reduction in the acquisition, operating, and support costs of the F-35 strike fighter program. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin said this marks the first time that a SAR...

More Extended-Range JASSMs

The Air Force intends to procure an additional 447 extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, but is also reducing its JASSM baseline buy by the same amount, according to the Defense Department’s latest selected acquisition report presented to Congress last week....

Former POWs Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Homecoming Dinner

Some 200 former Vietnam War POWs and their families, along with distinguished guests, came together last week at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the White House dinner on...

Triton’s First Flight

The Navy’s MQ-4C Triton remotely piloted aircraft completed its first flight, announced prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The hour-and-a-half flight took place over Palmdale, Calif., on May 22. “Triton is the most advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned aircraft system ever...