Greg Hadley

Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured. 

President Donald Trump’s administration is asking Congress for an extra $21 billion to boost munitions stockpiles, $17.3 billion to pay for operational costs from the conflict with Iran, and $4 billion for high-priority Space Force programs, according a June 24 supplemental funding request.

Air Force plans to increase flying hours and to improve parts availability took a hit June 24 as the House Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill cutting back both initiatives.  

The Pentagon is asking to shift money from the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye and classified Air Force accounts to fund a $1.55 billion spending plan for its revived E-7 Wedgetail program in fiscal 2027, according to budget amendments submitted to Congress last week. 

The Air Force’s promotion rate for new technical sergeants is holding steady in 2026 at around one-quarter of those eligible—but a sharp decline in the pool of those considered means the total number of new E-6s will be much lower.

When Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman addressed the graduating class of the Air Force Weapons School on June 13, he marked a milestone as the first Guardian to do so—and gave a sneak peek of the service’s new mess dress.

A congressional plan to replace the special operations aircraft destroyed during the rescue of a downed F-15E aviator in Iran would take all the money the Pentagon had planned to spend on another special ops plane, the OA-1K Skyraider II. 

The Air Force just got its hands on its first operational T-7A trainer jet, and officials are already thinking about adding a slew of upgrades—including some that could help the service use the Red Hawk to train less experienced pilots.

Eight people who were aboard a B-52H Stratofortress bomber died in a fiery crash shortly after takeoff June 15 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the base confirmed.

Mistakes made by a KC-46 boom operator and an F-22 pilot combined to break off the refueling boom, leaving $10 million in damage as the boom plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, an Air Force investigation found.

The Air Force would be able to sign multiyear contracts to buy F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and F-15EX Eagle II jets under the Senate’s version of a key defense policy bill.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach recently called the MQ-9 Reaper the “most valuable player” of Operation Epic Fury. Now the Senate Armed Services Committee wants the Air Force to build up its Reaper fleet.

As L3Harris proves its OA-1K Skyraider II special operations aircraft can carry a signals intelligence sensor and electronic attack weapon, a key congressional committee is poised to boost production of the converted Air Tractor prop plane. 

The White House has nominated a half-dozen Air Force general officers for three-star jobs, including new leaders for Air Forces Central in the Middle East, the Air Force Reserve, and one of the service’s top acquisition organizations. 

Air Education and Training Command has ticked off another box on the long checklist it must complete to start training student pilots on the new T-7A Red Hawk: qualifying its first instructor pilots.