WORLD: New KC-46s coming ... with problems in tow; Air Force generals concerns over modernization; Hinote wants faster technology development.
AFLCMC
The Air Force awarded Boeing a $2.2 billion contract for 15 KC-46 tankers, the ninth lot of the aerial refuelers, just days after the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center acknowledged a previously undisclosed deficiency with the aircraft. The latest purchase order is roughly the ...
What the B-52 will look like after engine upgrade; B-21 roll out set for Dec. 2.
Initial planning has begun for the retirement of the B-1 and B-2 bombers, but the game plan depends largely on progress in fielding the B-21 Raider—and on Congress—the Air Force’s bomber program executive officer said. In an Air Force bomber roadmap from 2018, the service ...
A collection of airpower, space power, and national security quotes.
Brig. Gen. Dale White, program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft, said much of the recent service-life extension program (SLEP) work on the F-16 has bought years of additional life for the type, and he’s gotten no instructions to start work on its successor, ...
The Air Force wants to retire its F-22, the world’s greatest fighter jet, within the decade. Congress doesn’t agree.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for the KC-Z was set for “maybe in the ...
Skunk Works sees value in MUM-T; Firms bid on JADC2 contract; F-22s head to Poland; Mackay Trophy to AC-130J Crews; USAF's next Aircrew helmet; Randall Walden to advise William LaPlante; Issues with Martin-Baker's ejection seat.
The era of “three-day critical design reviews” of Air Force programs may be ending with the advent of digital design and development methods, Gen. Duke Z. Richardson, head of Air Force Materiel Command, told attendees at an industry conference. “This is completely transforming how we’re ...
Looking to address Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s operational imperatives, cyber leaders with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center recently analyzed their networks and systems to see how they would hold up against cyber threats. The leaders came away with a “sobering” observation: Key ...
The Air Force has nine major commands and two Air Reserve Components. (Air Force Reserve Command is both a majcom and an ARC.) In late 2019, Air Force Space Command was redesignated U.S. Space Force, a separate military branch under the Department of the Air ...