The Air Force’s decision to more than double its purchase of F-15EX Eagle II jets may bolster the service’s fighter fleet, but it also comes with risks and questions officials will have to manage in the years ahead, a new Pentagon report warns.
Air Force
The Air Force has pulled a piece of testing equipment for its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles after discovering some appeared to be contaminated with a possible carcinogen.
Inflation and rising costs for critical upgrades are swelling the price of the F-35 fighter, according to a newly released acquisition report on the fifth-generation jet.
In June 2026, airpower experts from the U.S. Air Force, seven allied air forces, and industry convened for a three-day wargame designed to stress notional 2036 USAF combat forces in a series of concurrent crises: a Russian assault against NATO...
Verbatim – September/October 2026 × Ready or Not “When General Wilsbach came in as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, he made “fixing” one of the key elements of what we need to do, and put a spotlight...
The Guts to Try I was heartened by the language Gen. Dan Caine used for the toast to the Doolittle Raiders [“Verbatim: A Heroe’s Toast,” May/June, p. 12]—“They proved that if you have the guts to try, great things can...
New Enlisted Recruiting Commander By Todd South The Air Force appointed a colonel to head enlisted recruiting, more than 18 months after combining officer and enlisted recruiting into a single organization. Col. Lacresha A. Merkle took command of Air Force...
New Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missiles By Greg Hadley The Pentagon’s top research lab is interested in developing a hypersonic cruise missile prototype that provides “a revolutionary leap in operational performance,” as the first wave of U.S. hypersonic weapons enters production...
The 492nd SOW Lands at Davis-Monthan By Stephen Losey As the last few A-10 Warthogs leave Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Air Force Special Operations Command is accelerating plans to move a new wing to the Arizona base. The 492nd...
SMSgt. Michael J. Falleroni Senior Master Sergeant Falleroni helped stand up a battlecab for USAFE’s Air Operations Center, developing real-time, top-secret intelligence for the CFACC and five general officers during Operation Midnight Hammer. His actions enabled the largest B-2 mission...
The 25 years since 9/11 have been disastrous for our military air and space enterprise. Decades of nonstop military operations exhausted the Air Force, and the cost of ongoing ground operations led the Pentagon to delay and sometimes forgo modernization. The Air Force contracted as ...
Courage in the face of danger. On March 4, 1976, President Gerald Ford presented the Medal of Honor to the parents of a remarkable hero. Lance Sijan was born in Milwaukee in 1942. He was big, brash, handsome, and self-confident....