The U.S. Space Force has officially renamed the 45th Space Wing that oversees Florida’s launch ranges Space Launch Delta 45, the service announced May 11. Plans to rename the former Air Force space launch wing were announced last month. To create its own identity separate from the Air Force, the Space Force is naming its units deltas.
China’s space weapons include missiles and killer satellites, but Beijing’s most worrying arms are lasers and electronic jammers capable of destroying or disrupting Global Positioning System navigation satellites used by the U.S. military, the general in charge of space says. Air Force Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations for the Pentagon’s new Space Force, and other Air Force officials told Congress that the U.S. military needs to move quickly to counter increasingly aggressive Chinese and Russian moves in space.
Amazon Web Services helped the U.S. Air Force demonstrate edge computing with the service branch's new system of situational awareness sensors. The company said it participated in the On-Ramp 4 demonstration in Germany, where the evaluation of edge computing capabilities for USAF's Advanced Battle Management System took place.
The Air Force has started using virtual reality to get hunter-killer drone pilots and sensor operators up to speed at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Last month, trainees at the base began using Oculus Quest 2 headsets that allow them to simulate being in a drone cockpit, watching instructors remotely pilot an MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, according to the Air Force.
More than a year after its landing gear collapsed on the flight line at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, an F-22 Raptor took to the skies for the first time last month thanks to Virginia Air National Guard maintainers. Airmen from the 192nd Maintenance Group were able to get the fifth-generation jet, tail number 85, up and running for its first flight back April 9.
The Air Force is testing a specialized uniform and other gear meant to protect Airmen in case of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear, or CBRN, attacks. Members of the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron tried out the new Uniform Integrated Protective Ensemble, or UIPE, Air system on HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, last month, according to a news release.
Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, said the U.S. Space Force, which was created in December 2019, is accelerating efforts to meet its near-term priorities, the Air Force reported. “We have set conditions to outpace emerging and dynamic threats and create new military options, working with the joint force, interagency, industry, and our partners and allies.”
Chengdu J-10 jets powered by indigenous engines have entered operational service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, representing China’s confidence in the local technology to equip the single-engine, multirole aircraft.
An overhaul on a new jet fueling system has been completed at northern Indiana’s Grissom Air Reserve Base following several years of work to replace a system installed in the 1950s.
“Security tensions are brewing in East Asia. China has on several recent occasions sent military aircraft to fly around Taiwan, including into its air defense identification zone, complete with taunts from the Chinese pilots. Officials and analysts worry that an attack on the self-governing island could be in the offing. But when? Sometime between tomorrow and mid-century. Or never. No one knows, and that’s because no one really knows what drives China’s decision-making,” writes Jacob Stokes of the Center for a New America.
Recent reports indicate that the Iraqi Air Force is facing a multitude of problems that raise questions about its future. Lockheed Martin contractors providing crucial maintenance and technical support for the service’s 34 F-16C/D Block 52 fighter-bombers are evacuating Iraq again, at least for a few months, due to the continuous threat of Iran-backed Iraqi militia rocket attacks. … In 2020, numerous reports indicated that corruption coupled with a lack of spare parts and technical support took a heavy toll on Iraq’s F-16s.
President Biden has nominated former Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall to be the next Secretary of the Air Force. It will be some time before the Senate gets around to holding confirmation hearings, but Kendall’s credentials are so solid that official Washington is treating him like he already has the job.
Produced by the 9076th Voluntary Air Reserve Group, the short film recaps the events in Los Angeles during August 1951 as well as promoting the association and the Air Force. The film opens with two large bombers flying in the sky then landing. American actor Reed Hadley poses as an Air Force officer who talks to the camera about the need for more planes in the Air Force.