The Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn., has just launched a YouTube channel showcasing videos of its work in testing various Air Force propulsion systems, aircraft designs, air vehicles, and NASA rockets in wind tunnels and static firing chambers. (Click here; please note, AEDC says the channel is not accessible from .mil computers.) This is one of the Air Force’s many initiatives to communicate its mission and highlight its activities through so-called social media Web sites. So far, AEDC says a video showing a scaled F-35 strike fighter model in the wind tunnel is the most popular clip. (Arnold report by Joel Fortner)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.