Stephen Losey

The Navy has awarded Boeing a contract worth more than $20 billion to build its new carrier-based sixth-generation fighter, the F/A-XX. Boeing is also building the Air Force’s sixth-gen F-47.

The Air Force’s emerging Collaborative Combat Aircraft program would suffer delays if Congress fails to pass a budget before the end of this calendar year, a top service official said Sept. 28.

For the past four years, the idea of autonomous drone warfare like Collaborative Combat Aircraft has been discussed as a future concept, rather than near-term reality. But now that promised vision appears imminent, with the Air Force promising at least 1,000 such drones by 2032.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington D.C. has been filled with signs of American airpower: U.S. Air Force B-1 and B-2 bombers and F-22 fighters have all performed flyovers Sept. 23-24.

Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.—a longtime hub for A-10 Thunderbolt II tactical training, operational testing and maintenance—ended nearly a half-century of flying the venerable Warthog on Sept. 22.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and Anduril Industries both say they’re ready to produce Collaborative Combat Aircraft at a rapid clip and even expand that production, as they wait for a fiscal 2027 budget to fund that work.

The Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing received its first F-35A Joint Strike Fighter on Sept. 13, becoming the latest unit to get its hands on the new fifth-generation jet.

The rollout of new hardware to replace an old, troubled maintenance and logistics system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is complete, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told reporters Sept. 14, and software upgrades are next.

The Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft will take part in their first large-force engagement exercise in December, the head of the drones’ Experimental Operations Unit said Sept. 15.

The Air Force will consider acquiring new F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to answer capacity shortfalls in its aging fighter fleet, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. These discussions are happening as the Air Force is building its proposed fiscal 2028 budget and the ...

The Air Force’s program to re-engine the B-52H Stratofortress has moved from its technology maturation and risk reduction phase to engineering and manufacturing development, marking a new milestone in the sweeping overhaul of the Cold War-era bomber, a top official said Sept. 15.

For years, sustainment challenges and spare parts shortages have hindered the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s readiness. But the Air Force’s experience flying F-35s heavily in operations against Iran have showed what the jet can be capable of, if maintainers get all the supplies and support ...

The Air Force plans to field at least 500 semi-autonomous fighter drones known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft by 2032, and another 500 cheap reconnaissance and strike drones known as Massed Modular Aircraft that same year, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said Sept. 14.

Lockheed Martin’s proposed autonomous drone, called Vectis, is still on track to fly a prototype by the end of 2027, an official from the company’s Skunk Works division said Sept. 10, and the firm already started work on four more Vectis aircraft.

General Atomics has unveiled the first renderings of its Wildfire drone, which it plans to pitch for the Air Force’s hunt for a new, low-cost Massed Modular Aircraft.