Three F-35A Lightning IIs arrived at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, on June 25, doubling the size of the base’s F-35A fleet. Eielson will receive 48 more aircraft by December next year, giving Alaska the highest concentration of combat-coded, fifth-generation fighter aircraft of any state. ...
F-22s from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, with help from a KC-135 assigned to U.S. Transportation Command, intercepted two Russian IL-38 aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone late on June 24. While the aircraft got within 50 miles of Alaska's Unimak Island ...
Air Combat Command could get more F-22s in the fight if its new "Reforge" fighter pilot training construct pans out, ACC commander Gen. James M. Holmes said during a June 22 AFA Mitchell Institute Aerospace Nation streaming event. Holmes said more early F-22s also could ...
For the second time in a week, F-22 Raptors, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, intercepted two formations of Russian aircraft off the coast of Alaska, North American Aerospace Defense Command announced. The Russian aircraft—Tu-95 bombers, Su-35 fighters, and ...
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors, with help from KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, intercepted two separate Russian bomber formations off the Alaskan coast on the morning of June 10, North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a release. NORAD intercepted ...
A readiness task force spanning several major Air Force organizations is looking at new ways to measure fleet readiness other than the controversial mission-capable rate. After trying and largely failing to get certain fighter jet fleets to reach 80 percent mission-capable, or ready to enter ...
The Air Force’s fleet in fiscal 2019 maintained an overall mission capable rate of 70.27 percent, a slight increase from the previous year. Although some key combat aircraft, such as the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, which hovers just over 50 percent, sustained low capability rates, service ...
An F-22 from the 43rd Fighter Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., crashed the morning of May 15 just north of the base. The pilot safely ejected and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The F-22, assigned to the 325th Fighter Wing, was ...
When rows and rows of aircraft, 35 in total, lined up for the largest display of airpower in recent years at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, they had two audiences in mind: the Airmen on the ground that made it happen, and most importantly, those who ...
The Air Force inspector general is conducting a sweeping review of the service’s readiness assessments and reporting, the year after a Pentagon-wide order directed the armed forces to improve the state of key fighter fleets, according to the service’s presumptive next Chief of Staff. Air ...
Northrop Grumman will test a system that will allow fourth- and fifth-generation fighters to talk to each other, as well as “attritable” aircraft, during the next iteration of the Advanced Battle Management System experiment. The system could also be applied to the KC-46 tanker.
The 493rd Fighter Squadron is the 2020 recipient of the Raytheon Trophy for the service’s top air superiority squadron, the fourth win in a row for the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England. The squadron received the award based in its performance in 2019, ...