Air Force Looks to Counter Drone Threat

Two Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets were used to bring down a small ISIS drone earlier this month, the service confirmed. Working together, the aircraft used undisclosed “electronic warfare capabilities” to disable the small unmanned aircraft system near...

The Drone End Game

The Air Force has tasked the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental in Silicon Valley to work with industry to figure out new ways to control small unmanned aerial systems, Col. Brandon Baker, director of remotely piloted aircraft capabilities, said Wednesday....

New NATO Commitments to Eastern Europe

NATO allies this week committed to new large-scale deployments to Eastern Europe to counter Russian threats, including United Kingdom fighter jets and US combat brigades. During a ministerial meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said four multinational battalions will deploy...

US Strikes Target Al Qaeda Leaders in Afghanistan

US aircraft targeted two top al Qaeda leaders with strikes Oct. 23 in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. The results of the strikes are still being assessed, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement Wednesday. The deaths of...

ISIS Forcibly Enlists Human Shields for Mosul Fight

ISIS fighters in preparation for the battle for Mosul have been combing the villages south of the fortified for human shields. The Associated Press reported that residents are being taken from their homes by the group in areas around the...

USAF Flying Reapers From Tunisia

The Air Force this summer quietly deployed MQ-9 Reapers to Tunisia to fly reconnaissance missions over Libya as part of the anti-ISIS mission there. The Washington Post reported Thursday that the deployment began in June and that the aircraft were...

QF-4 One Step Closer to Retirement

The QF-4 Phantom targeting drone visited Hill AFB, Utah, for the last time Tuesday as the aircraft moves steadily toward its retirement. Hill has been home of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s F/QF-4 System Program Office since the...

A Preventative Approach to PTSD

The 361st Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group at Hurlburt Field, Fla., has created a new program to help its aircrews cope with PTSD. While direct support operators and tactical systems operators might not be on the ground, they fly with...

Robotic Surgery Comes to the Air Force

Keesler AFB, Miss., recently received the Air Force’s first two da Vinci Xi systems for advanced robotic surgery. Robotic systems enable greater precision for a number of surgeries, cutting down on recovery time in hospital and cost of procedures for...