Air Force

Senior Enlisted Leader: Ukraine is an ACE Success Story

Sept. 21, 2022 | By James C. Kitfield
Pacific Air Forces only recently developed the concept of agile combat employment in response to the growing threat to its air bases from China’s ballistic missiles, and already ACE is rapidly transforming Air Force planning, training, and doctrine. At its core, ACE is officially “a ...

First B-21 ‘Rollout‘ Planned for Early December

Sept. 20, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak
The B-21 Raider will roll out of Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., plant in early December, Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter said, but how much of the airplane will be visible remains to be seen. During a press conference at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber ...

Brown’s 5 Big Steps to Transforming His Air Force

Sept. 20, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak
Aggressive competitors, limited resources, and accelerating technological advances compel the Air Force to rapidly transform, as it has during other inflection points in its 75-year history, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said. “We’ve done this before … we can do it again,” ...

ACEing the China Challenge

Sept. 19, 2022 | By James C. Kitfield
Senior Air Force officials revealed during AFA's Air, Space & Cyber Conference just how profoundly the potential for conflict with an increasingly aggressive China has come to dominate internal counsels and the service’s strategic plans.

Vietnam Ace DeBellevue Credits Teamwork in His Six Aerial Kills

Sept. 15, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak
Air combat is “a real team sport” requiring agile thinking, persistence, and a willingness to sometimes disregard the rules, retired Col. Charles B. DeBellevue, the highest-scoring Air Force Vietnam ace, said at a seminar held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his last air-to-air kills.