The Air Force’s depot maintenance activities continue unabated during the COVID-19 crisis, but Air Force Materiel Command is staying alert for supply chain issues that could affect throughput. “To date, no mission requirements have been impacted, and aircraft are still being inducted into the depots,” ...
Lawmakers on Feb. 26 signaled a harsh fight ahead over the Pentagon's plans to retire aging aircraft and shift spending from weapons systems to border wall protection. The Defense Department’s total $705.4 billion fiscal 2021 request looks to retire dozens of USAF aircraft. Defense Secretary ...
The newest variant of the Air Force’s advanced, stealthy Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile-Extreme Range will start low-rate initial production next year, with deliveries beginning in 2024, according to the service’s budget request. The Air Force’s fiscal 2021 request includes $506 million total for ...
The new Air Force budget responds to the arrival of peer militaries on the world scene, the service's deputy chief of staff for operations said Feb. 12. The nation must shake off notions about Air Force capabilities that are 30 years old and no longer ...
A touted $30 billion realignment of the Air Force's budget, with some wholesale retirements of major systems, did not materialize in the spending documents released Feb. 10. Instead, the Air Force is reducing its operational fleet to pay for technology upgrades emphasizing connectivity, agile logistics, ...
The health of the Air Force's B-1 fleet, which spent much of 2019 plagued with readiness issues, has improved, enabling Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Timothy Ray to send the bombers on a short-notice deployment to the Middle East with plans for a ...
The years-old idea of an “arsenal plane,” a flying munitions truck that could accompany fighter jets and unmanned aircraft into battle, is now adapting to include the Air Force’s new technology pursuits. As the Air Force evolves its thinking on the prospect of an arsenal ...
One way the Air Force could come up with the $30 billion it says it’s shifting from “legacy” systems to urgent new priorities would be to retire eight major aircraft, including two bomber fleets, according to Todd Harrison, writing for the Center for Strategic and ...
A B-1B Lancer takes off from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., on Oct. 24, 2019, in support of US strategic objectives. Air Force photo by A1C Christina Bennett. The B-1B Lancers that deployed to Saudi Arabia Oct. 24 have already returned home...
