The U.S. Air Force continues to bolster its forces in the Middle East after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, as F-15Es from RAF Lakenheath, U.K., arrived in the region Oct. 13.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds on, the U.S. Air Force deployed four F-16 fighters to neighboring Poland on Oct. 3, keeping up the service’s continuous presence on NATO’s eastern flank.
The Air Force plans to cut its F-15E fleet to 99 aircraft in the coming years—cutting more than 100 Strike Eagles from the fleet. The move comes as the service seeks to modernize and bring on new platforms while still keeping enough fighters to be ...
The Air Force’s overhaul of Kadena Air Base, Japan, took yet another step with the arrival of more F-15E Strike Eagles to replace the aging F-15C/Ds at the base. According to a service spokesperson, the Air Force plans to send all F-15Cs at Kadena back ...
As the Air Force’s broader focus shifts to the Pacific and Europe, the U.S. military will rely on aging close air support aircraft to meet the needs of its forces in the Middle East. A-10 Thunderbolt IIs will deploy to the region in April, a ...
The military services are leaving capability gaps as they divest of older aircraft but aren't coordinating their tactical aviation spending plans to minimize risk, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. While the Pentagon agrees that it needs a portfolio approach to fighter ...
F-22 Raptors are leaving Europe after a four-month deployment, U.S. Air Forces in Europe said. The stealth fifth-generation fighters were sent to NATO's Eastern Flank in July and mainly operated out of Poland, conducting air policing missions in response to Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine. ...
Aiming to build a usable system throughout the experimental and prototyping phase of the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile program led to Raytheon and Northrop Grumman’s win of the program, company officials told reporters. The partners have already invested in production capacity in 14 states, they ...
With just a few days left until the current continuing resolution funding the government expires, the Department of the Air Force enumerated 16 new starts and four production increases that will be blocked until Congress appropriates money for the Pentagon's fiscal 2022 activities. Also stymied will ...
The Air Force trimmed 120 airplanes from its fleet in fiscal 2021, gaining the most aircraft among its F-35 fighter squadrons and giving up the most from its B-1 bomber units, according to data provided by the Air Force. With puts and takes, the Air ...
Purchases of new F-35 fighters, KC-46 tankers, and C-130 transports in recent years have made only a small dent in the age of the Air Force’s fleet, down to 29.1 years across all types after hitting 30.55 years in 2020. But the service operates eight ...
After gaining ground in fiscal 2020, the Air Force's fighter fleet saw a drop in readiness in fiscal 2021. Most fighters saw declines of two or three percentage points, but the F-35A's mission capable rate fell about eight percentage points after a big uptick the ...