John A. Tirpak
John A. Tirpak is Editorial Director of Air Force Magazine, with more than 25 years at the publication and more than 34 years in defense journalism. He has written for Aviation Week & Space Technology, Aerospace Daily, and Jane’s, reporting from all 50 U.S. states and 25 countries. He has been recognized with awards for journalistic excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Aviation and Space Writer’s Association, the Association of Business Publications International, and was the recipient of the 2018 Gill Robb Wilson Award in Arts and Letters from the Air Force Association. He has also lectured at the National War College and did postgraduate research at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum.
Recent stories by John A. Tirpak
Northrop Grumman Offers New B-21 Raider Details Ahead of Rollout
Northrop Grumman has revealed new details about the B-21 Raider ahead of the bomber's rollout Dec. 2. Calling the B-21 a "sixth-generation" aircraft, the company confirmed that the bomber will rely on external support platforms; that it has a "digital twin" to aid development; and ...
First F-16 Block 70 Emerges From Lockheed Martin’s New Factory—128 More on Order
Lockheed Martin's first new-build F-16 Block 70 has emerged from the company's Greenville, S.C., factory, launching a new phase in production of the Falcon, which first became operational with the Air Force 44 years ago.
New, Miniaturized Data Pod Will Accelerate Fighter Refinements, Fleet Maintenance
The Air Force is experimenting with a new pod expected to sharply improve fleet predictive maintenance and mission data and to accelerate software fixes across the entire Combat Air Forces. The pod miniaturizes and encapsulates a test rig previously too large and expensive for use ...
Air Force Touts Unity of Effort in Push Toward New Collaborative Combat Aircraft
The Air Force will make a “significant investment” in uncrewed, collaborative combat aircraft in the fiscal 2024 budget, a quartet of generals announced at the Pentagon. They insisted that the technology is mature enough to move aggressively toward a program that will yield operational capability ...
Brookings Panel: Pentagon Progressing Slowly in Meeting New Challenges
Four years after the National Defense Strategy reset the American military focus from counter-extremism to “Great Power Competition”—and two weeks after the Pentagon’s new NDS named China the pacing threat—the Defense Department is only sluggishly taking concrete steps to change its operating constructs, although the ...
Ukraine War Shows Importance of Counter-UAS, Air Defense, Distributed Ops to Air Warfare
Even relatively unsophisticated drones are playing a critical role in modern air warfare, underscoring the importance of air defense systems that can cope with them, experts said in a Stimson Center streaming seminar, “Ukraine and the Future of Air Warfare.” Another theme: Distributed operations are ...
Skyborg, Golden Horde Closing Out Vanguard Phase, Moving Into Program of Record
Two of the Air Force’s most prominent “Vanguard” technology incubator programs—Skyborg and Golden Horde—are graduating to become part of a program of record in 2023 and will form the nucleus of new combat systems, a senior USAF official said.
Air Force Orders 2 More New E-11A BACN Aircraft Systems, Making 5
The Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to outfit two more E-11A Bombardier business jets with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system. The service already operates three such aircraft, which are used to improve tactical communications for joint and coalition forces. The ...
Shyu Says Wargames Define R&D Investment; New NDS Tech Document Coming
Wargame results and opportunities to asymmetrically counter adversaries are driving the Pentagon’s investment choices in new technologies, said Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. She also said an unclassified document outlining the science and technologies underpinning the new National Defense Strategy will ...
T-38 Crashes Near Columbus AFB—Pilot OK
A T-38A Talon jet trainer of the 14th Flying Training Wing crashed near its home of Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., about 2:30 p.m. local time Nov. 7. The pilot ejected and survived, a base spokesperson said. No one on the ground was hurt.
LaPlante: Congress Will Support Multiyear Weapons Procurements
Congress is of a mind to allow the Pentagon to do more multiyear procurement—in the billions of dollars—particularly of munitions, given the situation in Ukraine and its implications for other potential conflicts, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante said.
F-16s From Spangdahlem May Head to Kadena After Alaskan F-22s
F-22s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, will initially fill in for F-15Cs as they begin to leave Kadena Air Base, Japan, but the Air Force is eyeing a later and longer deployment of F-16s from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, to reinforce the island base. ...
Kendall: NDS Doesn’t Call For a Larger Air Force; Expect Major Changes as USAF Modernizes
The Air Force won’t get larger anytime soon as a result of the new National Defense Strategy, and competition with China and Russia, though gravely serious, doesn’t constitute a new Cold War—mainly because of economic interdependence, said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
Strategy & Policy: The New National Defense Strategy
The new, public version of the National Defense Strategy, unveiled by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Oct. 27, calls out China as the U.S. military’s “pacing threat,” offers no force-sizing construct nor specifics about numbers of forces the U.S. needs.
Acquisition Reform Takes On a Sense of Urgency
The use of digital engineering and modeling to design, develop, and sustain new systems is not a passing fad, but a change that is here to stay.