WORLD: Russia-Ukraine

Sept. 6, 2024
Ukraine Unveils Its First F-16 Fighters By Chris Gordon Ukraine’s first F-16s were unveiled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Aug. 4, ending a lengthy wait for the Western fighters Kyiv says it needs to defend its airspace from Russia....

WORLD: Air

Sept. 6, 2024
B-1 Bombers from Ellsworth to Grand Forks USAF plans to relocate B-1s in 2025. By Unshin Lee Harpley The Air Force is planning to relocate 17 B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., to Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D.,...
The congressionally appointed Commission on the National Defense Strategy (NDS), after a thorough two-year look, concludes that the strategy is deeply flawed. The bipartisan panel of experts unanimously urged revisions to address emerging threats and advised a steady increase in defense spending to meet growing ...

Fighting the Air Base

Sept. 6, 2024
Front-line air bases are like any other weapon system: They are only effective if they can function under enemy fire. Air bases at forward locations in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, or other theaters must be able to fend off complex integrated air and missile strikes, rapidly ...
Our F-16 burst through the clouds above Spangdahlem Air Base on a crisp early morning in June, one of several Fighting Falcons from the 480th Fighter Squadron operating as an opposition force for a counter-air exercise. 

Faces of the Force

July 26, 2024
Tell us who you think we should highlight here. Write to airandspaceforces@afa.org.

Verbatim

July 26, 2024
A collection of quotes on airpower, space power, and national security issues.
In the absence of a rival superpower in the 1990s, and with the miscalculations of the post-9/11 counterinsurgency campaigns, the successive administrations, the Pentagon, and Congress managed to squander America’s technological edge.
Project Magellan is the latest maximum endurance operation (MEO), the term for long-haul missions, meant to test Airmen as transport and tanker crews under Air Mobility Command. 

Q&A: Creating Dilemmas

July 26, 2024
Airpower is a desired capability that everybody wants. Because it’s asymmetric, with a little bit of airpower, you can create a lot of effects.