Eleven Killed in C-130J Crash in Afghanistan

An Air Force C-130J assigned to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron? crashed at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, around 12 a.m. local time on Oct. 2, killing the six US crewmembers and five civilian passengers, according to an Air Forces Central Command...

NDAA Passes House

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved the National Defense Authorization Act with a vote of 270 to 156, sending the funding bill to the Senate. Lawmakers came to an agreement on the $612 billion bill Tuesday afternoon. It blocks...

Competing National Security Space Launches

The Air Force released the final request for proposals for GPS III services on Sept. 30, officially opening the door to competition for national security space launches. Companies have until Nov. 16 to submit proposals, though California-based SpaceX and the...

New U-2? We’ll See…

Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance boss Lt. Gen. Bob Otto said he hasn’t discussed Lockheed Martin’s proposed U-2 follow-on platform with the company but he is enthusiastic that industry is putting forward ideas. “I think it’s exciting that industry is coming...

F-35 Ejection Seat Issue Grounds Lighter Pilots

The Defense Department has restricted pilots weighing less than 136 pounds from flying the F-35 because of an issue with the ejection seat, the F-35 program office told Air Force Magazine. Lighter pilots are at greater risk of injury if...

Air Force Lags in Competitive Contracts

The Air Force’s “low and declining rates of effective competition for service contracts” has researchers perplexed. A Sept. 30 study conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found that of the 15-percent decline in the rate of...