Air Force Approves Bombing Range Expansion

The Air Force has approved the plan to quadruple the airspace of the Powder River Training Complex in several Great Plains states to give B-52H crews from North Dakota and B-1B fliers from South Dakota the ability to train more...

More RPA Relief

The Air Force is taking additional steps to relieve an overtaxed cadre of remotely piloted aircraft operators, announced the service leadership. Secretary Deborah Lee James said at a “State of the Air Force” press briefing in the Pentagon on Jan....

Air Force Presence Evolving in Southwest Asia

The Air Force is working closely with US Central Command to determine which of the service’s operating locations in Southwest Asia will transition from an expeditionary posture to a more “permanent” or “semi-permanent” presence, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark...

Stealth Isn’t Obsolete

There’s no danger that stealth will be overcome by new radar and other sensor technologies anytime soon, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. At a Pentagon press briefing on Jan. 15, Welsh was asked if the slowness of fielding...

Third Offset for Air Force

The Air Force’s forthcoming new strategic master plan will include “an annex that is purely science and technology,” said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. The Air Force is already a technology-focused service, so Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work’s new...

The Global Strike Journey

Air Force Global Strike Command is on a journey to change its culture, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, who oversees the major command. What started out as the Force Improvement Program—an ad hoc initiative launched to improve issues in the...

Bomber Rotations

Air Force Global Strike Command is close to rolling out some changes to its continuous bomber presence mission at Andersen AFB, Guam, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, AFGSC commander. “We’re now in the 11th year of our continuous bomber presence,...

First F-35A For Weapons School

The US Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nev., received its first F-35A, announced base officials. The new aircraft touched down at the desert base on Jan. 15 after a ferry flight from Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production facility in...

Global Hawks, Advanced Hawkeyes For Japan

Japan will procure RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft to enhance the country’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, announced manufacturer Northrop Grumman. While press reports in late 2014 indicated that the Japanese...