Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has announced a sweeping review of Air and Space Force readiness, to be completed in January 2024, aiming to hone the services' edge and heighten deterrence against China. Kendall promises major change and directed Airmen and Guardians to start sizing ...
Air Force readiness
Looking to build stability and improve readiness, Air Force leaders said at the AFA Warfare Symposium they are planning a move in 2024 to what they call a more cohesive approach to deployments for Airmen. That deadline to implement the service's new force generation model—Air ...
The Air Force’s readiness has hit new lows due to pilot shortages, low flying hours, and aging aircraft, the Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength found—leading the conservative think tank to give the service its lowest possible rating of “very weak.” The Space ...
After a brief one-year recovery, flying hours hve begun falling again across the Active Duty Air Force, although there were some gains for the Air National Guard and an overall improvement for the Air Force Reserve. Flying hours correlate to pilot proficiency and are a ...
The Department of the Air Force is set to embark on a readiness review as it works to dig itself out of a “readiness hole,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said. "Sequestration has been gone just a short period of time now, and I think ...
The successor to the RQ-4 Global Hawk should be available for service late in this decade, Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 21. Answering questions on divestitures of systems ...
Being forced to keep old aircraft is eroding the Air Force's attempts to build up its readiness, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee. He also said a host of efforts to fill USAF's pilot deficit are ...
Air Force Global Strike Command on April 20 ordered a safety stand-down of its B-1B Lancer fleet to inspect fuel system problems following an April 8 ground emergency. After the emergency at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., inspectors found a “discrepancy” with the B-1’s Augmenter ...
The Defense Department has regained some lost readiness after two decades of continuous combat, but still has more work to do, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. “Nearly two decades of conflict has degraded U.S. military readiness," wrote report author Diana ...
While the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building happened thousands of miles away from his office at Osan Air Base, South Korea, 7th Air Force Commander and U.S. Forces Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus said the event’s aftershocks still were felt ...
A readiness task force spanning several major Air Force organizations is looking at new ways to measure fleet readiness other than the controversial mission-capable rate. After trying and largely failing to get certain fighter jet fleets to reach 80 percent mission-capable, or ready to enter ...
When rows and rows of aircraft, 35 in total, lined up for the largest display of airpower in recent years at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, they had two audiences in mind: the Airmen on the ground that made it happen, and most importantly, those who ...