Last week, NASA’s Perseverance rover thrilled citizens of Earth when it landed on Mars with the promise of a new chapter in red planet exploration. But the military could also learn a thing or two from the spacecraft’s trip for future research and development efforts, ...
The Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium kicks off Feb. 24, opening three days of non-stop activity featuring 40 panels and presentations and the top leaders from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.
Fighter pilots can’t yet fire lasers on their real jets, but a new wargame series will let them try it out in cyberspace. Armed with computers and virtual reality headsets, F-16 pilots, F-15E weapon system officers, and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System air ...
The Air Force Research Laboratory is kicking off 2021 with plans to forge closer ties with the fledgling Space Force and a new focus on digital engineering. AFRL boss Brig. Gen. Heather L. Pringle laid out the lab’s priorities in a Feb. 4 talk with ...
The Air Force has pushed back the Article 32 preliminary hearing until Feb. 8 for Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley, the former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory who faces a sexual assault charge. The Department announced in November that an investigation found evidence ...
A group of networked bombs failed to hit the right target in the Air Force’s first flight test of its nascent weapon-swarming technology last month, posing a new obstacle as the service tries to speed the concept to the battlefield. On Dec. 15, the Air ...
The Pentagon has so many hypersonics projects underway there aren't enough people to conduct them and not enough facilities to test them, Air Force chief scientist Richard J. Joseph said during a Dec. 17 Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event. His comments came on the ...
A XQ-58 Valkyrie drone payload translated the incompatible signals of stealthy F-22 and F-35 fighters in a Dec. 9 test, enabling the aircraft to talk together and pass combat information between them. Air Force Chief Architect Preston Dunlap said the test shouldn't be viewed as ...
As Air Force Materiel Command makes changes to speed up how it buys, tests, and sustains weapon systems, the command is also overhauling its personnel practices to ensure its Airmen face fewer career hurdles and can succeed, the command’s boss said. AFMC is overhauling its ...
Three companies will move on to flight experiments as part of the Air Force’s Skyborg drone program, the service said Dec. 7. Kratos earned $37.8 million, Boeing earned $25.7 million, and General Atomics earned $14.3 million to continue on in the program, the Air Force ...
Air Force science advisers will meet Dec. 17 to discuss the findings of their recent space research as they close out this year’s deep-dive studies. In 2020, the board considered emerging space technologies, military communications, and autonomous systems behavior. As the year comes to a ...
A new space materials laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is now open for business. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate opened the $4 million Deployable Structures Laboratory (DeSel) on Oct. 29. It plans to begin testing hardware in the next few ...