Pentagon researchers this week will pit man against machine in an aerial dogfighting tournament to see if artificial intelligence algorithms can outsmart each other and a human F-16 pilot in combat. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AlphaDogfight Trials will host eight teams that have ...
military aircraft
Air Combat Command is preparing to consolidate its fighter, rescue, and command-and-control enterprises into a new numbered air force that will help military leaders wield those forces more effectively. This month, the Air Force will bring its Ninth and 12th Air Forces under one roof ...
Lt. Gen. David W. Allvin is on deck to become the Air Force’s next vice chief of staff, the Pentagon announced Aug. 14. President Donald J. Trump nominated Allvin to succeed Gen. Stephen W. “Seve” Wilson, who has been the Air Force’s second-highest officer since ...
Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., continues to move forward with its effort to rebuild following last year’s historic flood, despite the coronavirus pandemic, growing costs, and hazardous work conditions. Lt. Col. Chris J. Conover, director of Offutt’s rebuilding management office, told Air Force Magazine the ...
Air Force intelligence officials will keep improving the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone until Congress directs them to ditch it, the 16th Air Force commander said Aug. 13. The RQ-4 enterprise is in limbo, as the Air Force wants to retire 24 of the aircraft ...
The AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), the Air Force’s first hypersonic weapon, completed its last captive-carry test flight on a B-52 on Aug. 8. During the test, which was conducted off the coast of Southern California, the AGM-183A Instrumented Measurement Vehicle-2 transmitted telemetry and ...
Tall or small, the Air Force wants to ensure that Americans of more shapes and sizes can fit into its future aircraft. The service on Aug. 4 updated its guidance on the minimum physical size requirements used to design cockpits and aircrew flight equipment, which ...
An F-15 from Kadena Air Base, Japan, dropped an “eagle claw” at some point during a training flight Aug. 4, and the 18th Wing is looking into what caused the part to fall. The part is a C-shaped metal object that is about 7 inches ...
Three U.S. Air Force C-17s, plus another from the multinational Strategic Airlift Capability group, on Aug. 6 began carrying aid to Lebanon after a massive explosion in Beirut’s port killed at least 135 people and injured thousands more. The three Globemaster IIIs from Al Udeid ...
The Air Force Weapons School plans to start graduating its first KC-46 experts in three years under a new weapons instructor course, the service said Aug. 5. A syllabus should be approved by next June, and the school anticipates that its first cohort of KC-46 ...
Some of the Air Force’s most advanced, secretive aircraft flew together in a large-scale event this week to vet the service's methods for destroying enemy air defenses, and to see how well older planes work with more advanced airframes. The 53rd Test and Evaluation Group's ...
Recognizing the “trials and tribulations” of African American military leaders who preceded him, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. officially assumed the job of Air Force Chief of Staff from Gen. David L. Goldfein on Aug. 6. The two were lauded by Defense Secretary Mark T. ...
