U.S. Special Operations Command is shifting its aviation plans to favor more drone swarms and fewer militarized crop-dusters, according to its fiscal 2027 budget request.
AFSOC
Air Force acquisition officials are on the hunt for small, easily portable, one-way attack drones to arm special forces operators, so they can launch first-person-view precision strike missions like Ukraine has used to great effect against Russia.
When U.S. Special Operations Command and the Air Force first developed requirements for its Armed Overwatch program, planners envisioned a rugged, lightweight, low-cost combat scout aircraft capable of supporting counterinsurgency missions. Now that they've acquired OA-1K Skyraider II, however, the command and its prime contractor are looking to up-arm their modified Air ...
Impure metal used to make a gear in the proprotor gearbox of a CV-22 caused it to fail, leading to a mishap and emergency landing in November 2024 that resulted in nearly $2.8 million in damages and a brief operational pause for the entire Osprey fleet, according to a new Air Force report.
The Air Force will stand up a new unit next year to shape how the service fights with one-way attack drones.
A recent Air Force contract to buy up to $50 million worth of small drones from Anduril Industries may soon allow the service’s special operations command to transform its MQ-9 Reapers into drone-launching motherships.
The head of Air Force Special Operations Command said he has “complete confidence” in the safety of the CV-22 Osprey despite a delayed upgrade to the tiltrotor aircraft’s gearbox following a fatal November 2023 crash that temporarily grounded the fleet.
The Air Force’s plans for a new special operations wing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to replace retiring A-10s are moving forward—and changing.
House lawmakers are encouraging the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command to work together as each pursues long-range, long-endurance reconnaissance drones. Both entities are investing in unmanned assets that can slip into highly defended areas, loiter over a particularly valuable target for days at ...
The Air Force has six Institutional Commands focused on the recruit, train, and equip function of the department, and 10 Service Component Commands focused on meeting the needs of the nation’s joint combatant commands.
A non-exhaustive list of acronyms and abbreviations found in the 2025 Almanac.
The Air Force has added new self-guided gliders to deliver cargo to “high-risk environments” without putting a manned aircraft in danger. Contractor DZYNE and the Air Force Research Laboratory unveiled the new “Grasshopper” gliders, which can be dropped out of a C-17 or C-130 and ...