DAF Personnel by the numbers: Total Force; end strength and manpower trends; breakdowns by sex, rank, region, command, Air Force Specialty Codes, and more.
military
The annual defense budget is prepared by the Department of Defense, reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and then submitted to Congress. Yet it is Congress that has the final say. The House and Senate must...
A collection of quotes on airpower, space power, and national security issues.
We’ll Bring You Home: USAF’s Unwritten Contract with Every Combat Pilot By Matthew Cox and Stephen Losey When a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran and its pilot and weapons systems officer ejected into unfriendly territory in...
New KC-46 Vision System Slips to ’28 By Matthew Cox The Air Force says it has formed a plan with Boeing to get key upgrades deployed across the KC-46 tanker fleet faster—but the service acknowledged it won’t start fielding the...
Epic Fury’s Epic Cost: $29B By Chris Gordon The cost of operations against Iran has risen to $29 billion, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers May 12, a $4 billion increase from the Department of Defense’s last public estimate two...
Space Force Accelerates On-Orbit Refueling By Courtney Albon As the Space Force makes plans for two on-orbit refueling and maneuver demonstrations in 2027—and closely watches similar government and commercial endeavors—the service official overseeing the effort says he want to take...
Inside the $1.5T Budget Request By Greg Hadley, Matthew Cox, Steve Losey The Trump administration’s record-breaking $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal 2027 would represent a $441 billion increase over the fiscal 2026 budget, a 44 percent jump that...
Pilot, leader, and diplomat. “Chappie” was born in Pensacola, Fla., in 1920, the youngest of 17 children. At the age of 17 during World War II he and a number of other Black men went off to college at Tuskegee...
USAF Tests New Air-to-Air Missile By Stephen Losey The military’s secretive new air-to-air missile appears to have been publicly photographed for the first time during testing. A missile matching previously released information and renders of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical...
Aircraft Total Active Inventory (TAI) as of Sept. 30, 2025.
DOD Personnel by the numbers: Total Force; end strength and manpower trends; breakdowns by sex, rank, region, command, Air Force Specialty Codes, and more.