Retiring after 40 years of aerospace and defense journalism—31 years with Air & Space Forces Magazine—John Tirpak offers observations and advice on how to tell the Air Force’s continuing story. O ver the past few decades, the Air Force’s cumulative budget...
F-22
An Air Force maintenance team in Alaska failed to follow “prescribed procedures” while working on an F-22 weapons bay, leading to a mishap March 25, 2024 that killed Staff Sgt. Charles A. Crumlett, according to a recent accident investigation report.
America’s Air Force today is smaller and older than it was in my day, but what worries me more than size or age is just how ready we are to fly, fight, and win in a future war. I graduated...
The Air Force’s new fighter plan calls for a 30 percent increase in fighter jets, but achieving that increase will be challenging, and the plan lacks a convincing force-sizing rationale, according to former service leaders and defense analysts.
Spain Takes Charge at ACC By Chris Gordon Gen. Adrian L. Spain succeeded Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach Aug. 11, marking his ascension to the four-star ranks at one of the Air Force’s largest and most far-reaching commands. In a ceremony...
Stealth was a gamble 50 years ago. It’s still a good bet. S tealth technology has given the U.S. military an air of near invincibility for the past 35 years. Overwhelmingly successful in the 1991 Gulf War, and heavily refined...
A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Air Force Reveals Range and Inventory Goals for F-47, CCAs By John A. Tirpak The F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter will have a combat radius greater than 1,000 miles—nearly double that of the F-22—and the Air Force plans to acquire...
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors landed at RAF Lakenheath in England June 18 as President Donald Trump weighs whether to join Israel's attacks on Iran.
President Donald Trump is interested in developing a twin-engined, upgraded version of the F-35 fighter, he said during a press event May 15 in Qatar marking the sale of Boeing airliners and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways. He said he would name the improved ...
The F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter will have a combat radius of greater than 1,000 miles—nearly double that of the F-22—and the Air Force plans to acquire more than 185 of them, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin revealed. The first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, ...
