January 28, 2008

The Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing received its first F-35A Joint Strike Fighter on Sept. 13, becoming the latest unit to get its hands on the new fifth-generation jet.

The rollout of new hardware to replace an old, troubled maintenance and logistics system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is complete, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told reporters Sept. 14, and software upgrades are next.

The Smithsonian’s announcement that an F-117A Nighthawk, tail number 85-0818, is headed to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, or NASM, is welcome news. The acquisition of this Nighthawk fills a long-standing historical gap—indeed, need—in the collections of what is generally considered the world’s premier air and space…

The 55th Wing officially retired the EC-130H Compass Call aircraft in a ceremony Sept. 18 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., while the 355th Wing there retired its final A-10 Warthog, another major transition for the base.

The Space Force and the Defense Innovation Unit have chosen two firms to demonstrate the ability of small satellites built with low-cost, commercial technology to track both friendly and adversary satellites in geosynchronous orbit.