F-35 Software Delay Won’t Hit IOC

There’s about a six-month lag in testing the version 3F software for the F-35 strike fighter, but it’s not affecting the services’ initial operational capability yet, according to program leaders. In a teleconference with reporters on June 12 following an...

F-35 Incentives

The F-35 steering committee, comprising US program leaders and international partners, met at Eglin AFB, Fla., this week. On the agenda was the financial challenge of each user buying its planned inventory of the jets. Pentagon acquisition czar Frank Kendall...

White House Mulls Options to Support Iraq

President Obama said Thursday the United States is mulling what type of military support to offer the Iraqi government to help it deal “with what clearly is an emergency situation” in Iraq. “There will be some short-term, immediate things that...

DLA Aims for 30 Percent Less

The Defense Logistics Agency is downsizing, aiming to be nearly a third smaller over the next five years, said agency chief Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek on Thursday. By 2019, DLA will shrink from a $40 billion enterprise to one of...

F-22s Join Cope Taufan Exercise

Hawaii Air National Guard F-22s are in Malaysia participating in Cope Taufan 2014, a bilateral US-Malaysian air exercise that kicked off this week, announced Air Force officials. This marks the first-ever deployment of F-22s to southeast Asia to participate in...

Practicing with Poles under Pressure

F-16s deployed to Poland began a large-scale air defense exercise from Lask Air Base with British, French, Polish, and NATO aircraft. The 18 F-16s from Spangdahlem AB, Germany, are the largest rotation to Poland yet and the first Air Force...

Tweaking Stealthy Standoff

B-2 and B-52 bombers recently fired live JASSM cruise missiles in a series of trials aimed at evaluating and perfecting standoff tactics. “The JASSM is one of the most cutting-edge weapons we have,” said Maj. Chris Weir, weapons officer with...

Luke’s First Reserve F-35 Instructor

Maj. Justin Robinson will become the first Air Force Reserve Command F-35A instructor pilot assigned to Luke AFB, Ariz. Robinson is currently an instructor with AFRC’s 69th Fighter Squadron, which is transitioning, along with Luke’s Active Duty 56th Wing from...

Monument to Sergeant Pilots Dedicated in Alabama

Officials unveiled a monument at the Air Force’s Enlisted Heritage Hall in Montgomery, Ala., to US sergeant pilots, the enlisted aviators who served in World War I, World War II, and out to 1957. “They were men, who during a...