All Department of the Air Force (USAF) articles – Page 6
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NewsStormBreaker approved for use on F-15E Strike Eagle
The US Department of Defense plans to start fielding the weapon on the US Navy’s Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet later this year, followed by the Lockheed Martin F-35 at a later, undisclosed date.
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Interview
How ‘War on Terror’ UAV maker General Atomics is pivoting to great power conflict
The San Diego-based company has reacted with a flurry of new initiatives in the past couple of years intended to hold onto existing business, seize new opportunities in the near future and ultimately maintain its position as the USA’s leading maker of armed reconnaissance UAVs going into the 2030s.
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News
US Air Force aims to train pilots faster using brain electrode
In August, the US Air Force Research Laboratory 711th Human Performance Wing launched its iNeuraLS project, an effort to speed up pilot training through brain stimulation.
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News
Loyal wingmen UAVs might be better for non-lethal missions: report
Attritable loyal wingman unmanned air vehicles might be best used as non-lethal “force multipliers” for the US Air Force’s fleet of manned aircraft says a report by think tank Mitchell Institute.
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In depth
MQ-Next should include both expendable and high-end UAVs: Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is proposing a range of unmanned air vehicle options for the US Air Force’s MQ-Next development programme, including a type that the company calls “expendable”.
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News
General Atomics Sparrowhawk seen for first time in captive carry tests on MQ-9 Reaper
Sparrowhawk is designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as electronic warfare, work. It is to be air launched and air recovered by the larger MQ-9 Reaper UAV.
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News
US Air Force HH-60W combat rescue helicopter starts live-fire tests
The service aims to demonstrate the functionality, accuracy and safety of three gun options for the new combat rescue helicopter, the USAF says on 16 September. The helicopter was grounded for the initial live-fire tests.
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News
USAF launches MQ-9 ARES contract following similar commoditised F-16 deal
The US Air Force (USAF) has granted General Atomics Aeronautical Systems an Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution (ARES) a contract, which pre-prices the MQ-9A Reaper unmanned air vehicle (UAV).
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News
USAF Special Ops wants VTOL aircraft with ‘jet speed’ to replace CV-22
The US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is looking to leap ahead with the aircraft that replaces its Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey.
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News
Lockheed Martin aims to put laser weapon on aircraft in five years
Its Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System would be used to shoot down incoming tactical missiles, for instance, air-to-air missiles or surface-to-air missiles.
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News
How the X-47B influenced Northrop Grumman’s MQ-Next proposal
If Northrop Grumman’s proposal for MQ-Next looks a lot like the company’s X-47B unmanned air vehicle (UAV), that’s because the new SG-2 flying wing concept draws a lot of its features from the demonstrator jet.
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News
USAF Special Ops return to niche missions for great power competition
US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) plans to move away from some of the counter terrorism and anti-insurgency missions that it assumed after the 11 September 2001 attacks, in favour of traditional niche roles in the USA’s budding great power competition with Russia and China.
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News
USAF secretly builds and flies next-generation fighter demonstrator
The US Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown a full-scale demonstrator aircraft that is part of its Next Generation Air Dominance programme.
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News
USAF passes targeting data to HIMARS inside Boeing C-17
The US Air Force (USAF) has downloaded target information to a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) while it was being carried inside a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft.
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News
USAF’s digitally engineered aircraft to receive ‘e’ prefix, starting with Boeing eT-7A
If aerospace manufacturers weren’t already motivated enough to design their latest aircraft using much-talked about “digital engineering” software programs, secretary of the US Air Force Barbara Barrett says anyone who does so will have their aircraft prefixed with the letter “e”.
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News
General Atomics unveils ‘ultra-long endurance’ replacement for MQ-9 Reaper
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has unveiled a rendering of its next-generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and strike unmanned air vehicle as a proposed replacement of the US Air Force’s MQ-9A Reaper.
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Analysis
AI to dogfight against real-world fighter aircraft in 2024: Pentagon
“We see AI as a tool to free up resources, time and manpower, so our people can focus on higher priority tasks and arrive at the decision point, whether in a lab or on the battlefield, faster and more precise than the competition,” says US secretary of defense Mark Esper.
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Opinion
Will commoditised sales of the F-16 fighter work?
The Pentagon’s plan to offer a commoditised version of the Lockheed Martin F-16 could help propel the world’s best-selling fighter aircraft to new heights, but it remains to be seen if foreign customers will put aside their fondness of fancy custom features.
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News
USAF conducts second, ‘more complex’ field test of Advanced Battle Management System
As part of the most recent test, US military forces simulated using ABMS to “detect and defeat efforts to disrupt US operations in space”, says the USAF. The forces also coordinated the shoot-down of a mock cruise missile using a new “hypervelocity weapon”.
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News
M-Code GPS and inertial navigation for F-22 and E-2D finishes critical design review
Northrop Grumman’s Embedded Global Positioning System and Inertial Navigation System-Modernization (EGI-M) programme recently finished its critical design review.
