The Air Force has awarded multimillion contracts to two industry teams to design small prototype engines for the service’s future Collaborative Combat Aircraft, according to Feb. 23 announcements.
News
The Department of the Air Force plans to establish around 27 "portfolio acquisition executives" and grant them far greater authorities and responsibilities for supporting and sustaining the systems they acquire, Secretary Troy E. Meink said in a keynote address to kick off AFA’s Warfare Symposium here Feb. 23.
AURORA, Colo. — Shield AI takes us inside their new AI-piloted VTOL fighter jet, dubbed the “X-BAT,” at the 2026 Warfare Symposium. The X-BAT will be capable of launching and recovering from ships, remote islands, or austere forward bases while...
The Space Force is starting to share early versions of its 15-year force structure roadmap with industry, government, and allied officials, focused on three primary mission areas—navigation warfare, space domain awareness, and satellite communications—Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman announced Feb. 23.
The Air Force has put inert weapons on its new uncrewed fighters for the first time and plans to conduct live weapons tests later this year. Those steps come as the service is moving to bring its new drone wingmen into service more rapidly than traditional aircraft.
The Air Force and Northrop Grumman have struck a $4.5 billion deal to increase production on the B-21 Raider bomber by 25 percent. Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink announced the completed deal during his Feb. 23 keynote address to open AFA’s Warfare Symposium.
The Space Development Agency is shelling out $30 million to see how it can use a commercial satellite network for tactical communications. The contract award to AST SpaceMobile, announced Feb. 23, is the agency's first use of a vendor pool meant for demonstration and experimentation contracts.
First, General Atomics dubbed its YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft "Dark Merlin," consistent with the Air Force's tradition of naming attack aircraft after birds of prey. A few hours later, Northrop Grumman announced it is calling its YFQ-48A offering “Talon Blue.”
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe will deliver his first keynote speech to the force this week at AFA’s 2026 Warfare Symposium—a talk aimed at helping Airmen understand what they can expect from the service’s top enlisted Airman and how their performance will be judged.
