All Department of the Air Force (USAF) articles
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NewsSecretive US ‘spaceplane’ will return to orbit on SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket
The Boeing X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle, operated by the US Space Force, will return to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy booster for its seventh long-endurance flight mission.
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NewsArcher secures $142m contract to deliver up to six ‘Midnight’ eVTOLs to USAF
Electric air taxi developer Archer Aviation has secured contracts with the US Air Force (USAF) worth up to $142 million, expanding both its partnership with the military and potential use cases for its in-development Midnight aircraft.
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NewsXwing lands USAF contract for autonomous cargo trials
Autonomous flight technology developer Xwing has won a 21-month contract with the US Air Force (USAF) to operate pilotless cargo trials, becoming the latest aviation start-up to partner with the US military.
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NewsJoby signs $55m extension to Agility Prime contract with USAF
Electric air taxi developer Joby Aviation has disclosed a $55 million extension to its Agility Prime contract with the US Air Force (USAF) to deliver and operate up to nine of its yet-to-be-certificated aircraft.
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NewsUSAF adds 54 AESA radars to F-16 modernisation order
The $128 million contract adds to a similar order last November aimed at modernising the US Air Force’s fleet of multirole Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters.
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NewsNorthrop will supply MESA sensors to planned USAF E-7 fleet
Northrop Grumman will provide its Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array long-range sensor for the fleet of Boeing E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control jets the US Air Force plans to purchase.
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NewsPacific Propeller wins ‘urgent’ overhaul work for USAF’s C-130H fleet
Washington state-based MRO provider Pacific Propeller International has received what it describes as an “urgent contract” from the US Air Force to replace propeller barrels on the service’s fleet of Lockheed Martin C-130H transports still equipped with a legacy propulsion system.
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NewsRussian and American military aircraft collide over Black Sea
An uncrewed aerial vehicle from the US Air Force and a Russian fighter jet collided over the Black Sea on 14 March during what American defence officials describe as an “unsafe intercept” by Russian aviators.
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NewsUSAF favours P&W F-35 engine upgrade over adaptive-cycle engine replacement
Budget pressure and lack of buy in from other US military services led the US Air Force to abandon designs for an entirely new engine for its F-35A stealth fighters, and instead pursue a core upgrade of the existing power plant.
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NewsUS President Biden selects livery for ‘Next Air Force One’
US President Joe Biden has selected the livery of the “Next Air Force One”, the new VC-25B aircraft designated for presidential travel that is currently under construction, formally rejecting the colour scheme that had been chosen by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
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NewsPentagon confirms U-2 pilot’s ‘selfie’ with Chinese balloon
For the first time, the public is getting an aerial view of the mysterious Chinese balloon that transited North American airspace during the first week of February. The US Department of Defense (DoD) on 22 February released a photo of the airship – which defence officials say was a spy ...
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NewsGE continues pushing F-35 engine replacement over upgrade
Calling its campaign to develop an adaptive-cycle engine for the fifth-generation stealth fighter a success, GE Aerospace is pushing for the US Air Force to adopt the technology, rather than opting to perform a core upgrade on the existing F-35 powerplant.
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NewsUSAF commissions study of autonomous cargo jet feasibility
California-based developer of aviation safety technologies Reliable Robotics will prepare a feasibility assessment for the US Air Force examining the potential for autonomous, multi-engined transport jets, including automations of both flight and cargo operations.
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NewsArtificial intelligence-controlled aircraft completes combat manoeuvres in USAF test
Two artificial intelligence “agents” developed by the US military completed 17h of flight tests in December, focused on execution of advanced fighter manoeuvres such as close-range dogfighting and beyond-visual-range combat.
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NewsUS F-22s shoot down unidentified high-altitude object over Alaska
The Pentagon says at the direction of US President Joe Biden fighter aircraft shot down an unknown object off the coast of Alaska around 40,000ft, with military officials describing the craft as posing a hazard to commercial aviation.
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NewsV-22s grounded over continued problems with hard clutch engagement
After the US Air Force and US Marine Corps failed to previously address the problem, the joint office overseeing the US military’s fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotors recommended a flight restriction on the problem-plagued craft over continued issues with hard clutch engagement.
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NewsUSAF launches effort to develop stealthy air tanker
Formerly known as “KC-Z”, the programme now dubbed Next Generation Air-refuelling System seeks to deliver an air tanker capable of surviving in a contested environment by 2040.
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NewsDARPA, Lockheed successfully test experimental hypersonic weapon
It was the second test flight of the scramjet vehicle known as the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept, which Lockheed is developing in conjunction with the Pentagon’s secretive research branch.
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NewsUSAF orders more Boeing KC-46s, as inspectors identify more failings
The US Air Force placed an order worth $2 billion with Boeing for 15 new KC-46 air tankers, just as the Pentagon’s test office identified new faults with the troubled jet.
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NewsUSAF launches AI-powered airlift planning competition
The Air Force Research Laboratory digital event invites researchers from around the world to improve the planning of airlift operations using artificial intelligence-driven algorithms.