Full-rate production of the F-35 and delivery of the Block 4 upgrade will keep slipping until the simulator is fixed and the Pentagon sets some realistic timetables for software development, the Government Accountability Office reported on March 18. It recommended better automatic tools for assessing ...
aviation news
The Air Force canceled its Pacific-based Advanced Battle Management System on-ramp later this year after it already cut back the scope of its most recent event in Europe because of Congressionally mandated budget cuts. Congress, in the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, questioned the need ...
Two B-2 Spirits and two B-1B Lancers linked up near Iceland for a training mission March 16, highlighting the importance the Air Force is placing on the Arctic region. The four bombers flew a “long-range integration” in the high north, flying together off the coast ...
A Pentagon declaration that the F-35's initial development is complete is still months away, but even when it comes, it won't trigger a surge in production of the fighter. “I don’t think you’ll see a large deviation” in production when full-rate is declared, according to ...
An F-22 experienced an in-flight emergency and a subsequent mishap upon landing March 15 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The pilot was transported to the base’s flight medicine clinic for an evaluation immediately after landing, Eglin said in a statement. The F-22, assigned to ...
Air Education and Training Command's “Accelerated Path to Wings” program graduated its first-ever class of undergraduate pilots at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, on March 12. The program produces pilots in approximately seven months—five months shorter than typical undergraduate pilot training—by letting student pilots stick ...
The Air Force is offering bonuses of up to $420,000 to pilots who commit to staying in uniform for up to 12 years. The service wants to keep pilots in its cockpits longer as it continues to grapple with an ongoing pilot shortage and the ...
Air Force Capt. Melaine Valentin, a T-38C instructor pilot from Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, leveraged her lifelong passion for visual art when asked to design a morale patch for Air Education and Training Command’s 2019 Women’s Fly-In. But since the event, the patch's popularity ...
A dozen C-130Js from the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base, Japan, supported more than 500 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members in the “largest static-line personnel jump and cargo drop” between the two countries, according to a USAF release. “This was not an overnight effort. ...
B-1s operating in Eastern Europe for a bomber task force continued their tour of the region, deploying to Poland for the first time March 12. The B-1B from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, touched down at Powidz, Poland—the first time ...
The USAF air refueling mission to support French counter-terrorism operations in Mali is entering its eighth year, with KC-135s offloading more than six million pounds refueling French aircraft. The 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, is now the sole unit deploying to ...
The Army is pursuing its own deep strike and suppression of enemy air defense capability—roles and missions assigned to the Air Force. The Army is already setting up a forward-based task force that will direct the employment of hypersonic and mid-range missiles for the mission ...
