Senators confirmed Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as the first black military service chief in American history in a 98-0 vote June 9. Brown, the decorated four-star general in charge of Pacific Air Forces, is expected to begin his four-year term as the ...
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 ...
Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center boss Maj. Gen. Shaun Morris is nominated for the top spot at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. Morris is also up for a promotion to lieutenant general. His nomination was sent to the Senate on May 11. If ...
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 Air Force is reshuffling the oversight of its fighters, bombers, and mobility aircraft, separating fighters and bombers and putting tankers and the Open Skies recap program together with other airlift programs. The reorganization is meant to put greater emphasis on bombers and extract the ...
Lawmakers are preparing their aerospace priorities for the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, in which the Air Force hopes to see an endorsement of its modernization-heavy, $154.6 billion budget request. One provision that could have big ripple effects for the service is a push to ...
Boeing expects to spend $551 million of its own money on the design and implementation of fixes to the KC-46 Remote Vision System, as part of a new $827 million charge on the aircraft, the company announced April 29. The Air Force and Boeing early ...
The Pentagon’s top acquisition official anticipates the military will see a three-month setback across its major defense acquisition programs as the coronavirus pandemic throws contractors and program officials off their usual rhythm. “We do anticipate about a three-month slowdown at slower rates in terms of ...
Air Force researchers and mobility crews recently evaluated six airframes over the course of two weeks in an effort to better understand the airflow of mobility aircraft in case there is a need to airlift a large number of COVID-19 positive passengers. Researchers placed systems ...
Boeing on April 13 reopened some of its production lines, including work on the Air Force's new KC-46 tanker, which had been closed for weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company also is restarting work on the Navy's P-8 at its Renton facility and ...
Boeing has extended the suspension of operations at its Washington state production facilities, a move that could have long-term implications for the KC-46 program. The company announced April 5 it will extend the closure, citing “continuing focus on the health and safety of its employees, ...
The Air Force and Boeing have agreed on a plan to replace the cameras and other components of the KC-46’s remote vision system, addressing the biggest flaw with the service's new tanker. As part of the deal, the company will receive $882 million of previously ...