The first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with ballast, rather than an advanced radar in its nose, flew an acceptance flight the last week of February, Air & Space Forces Magazine has learned. F-35s will arrive without radars at Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps bases ...

WORLD: Heritage

Feb. 6, 2026
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91 By Tobias Naegele  Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died...

Faces of the Force

Feb. 6, 2026
Tell us who you think we should highlight here. Write to letters@afa.org U.S. Air Force Maj. Andre “Guns” Golson, a 31st Operations Support Squadron F-16 fighter pilot at Aviano Air Base, Italy, earned the Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault Award...

WORLD: Personnel

Feb. 6, 2026
Air Force Basic Training’s Mock Airfields By Matthew Cox Second Air Force officials plan to inject more realism in Basic Military Training this year by building two mock airfields where Airmen will get hands-on training with real combat aircraft. By...

WORLD: Air

Feb. 6, 2026
Compromise Defense Bill Adds Funds for Fighters, E-7 By Greg Hadley Congress is looking to add $900 million to save the E-7 airborne early warning and control aircraft from cancellation and $500 million aircraft from cancellation and $500 million to address...