All United States Air Force articles – Page 21
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NewsDOD keeps eye on hypersonic missiles and manoeuvring warheads
As the USA, Russia and China pursue long-range, high-speed boost-glide and scramjet/ramjet-powered strike weapons, the deputy commander of US Strategic Command Lt Gen Stephen Wilson says arming those hypersonic vehicles with nuclear warheads is not currently part of the conversation, at least for America.
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NewsDOD awaits Northrop B-21 to fill 'long-range strike deficit'
Last month, a package of Boeing B-52 aircraft belonging to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana deployed to Qatar to support bombing raids on the Islamic State terrorist network in Iraq and Syria. These B-52s replaced the Boeing B-1B “Bone” aircraft that left the region in January ...
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News
PICTURES: RAAF A330 MRTT achieves C-17A milestone
The Royal Australian Air Force has conducted air-to-air refuelling trials between its two largerst aircraft types: the Airbus Military A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and Boeing C-17A strategic airlifter.
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News
USAF’s Small UAS roadmap calls for swarming ‘kamikaze’ drones
If the US Air Force needed to break into places like Iran, North Korea, Russia or China, it would overwhelm those countries' integrated air defence systems with tens of thousands of small and relatively cheap small unmanned aircraft acting as jammers, decoys, cameras and “kamikazes”.
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NewsUSAF basing revised bomber count on 'minimum' of 100 B-21s
US Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) expects to complete an analysis of its bomber force numbers by the end of this year calendar year, and says that number will be based around a “minimum” operational requirement for 100 Northrop Grumman B-21s.
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NewsCongressional panel questions USAF's JSTARS radar plan
Members of Congress have cautioned the US Air Force against “pursuing multiple radar technologies concurrently” as it explores options for replacing the Northrop Grumman E-8C “JSTARS” surveillance, battle management and command and control platform.
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NewsHow a pilot’s NVG case brought down a USAF C-130J in Afghanistan
A deadly US Air Force C-130J crash at Jalalabad Airfield in Afghanistan on 2 October 2015 that killed everyone onboard, plus three Afghani security personnel manning the guard tower it struck, was caused by a hard-shell night vision goggle case placed in front of the yoke.
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Opinion
OPINION: Will fighter aircraft become obsolete?
Are fighter jets still of any use in modern air warfare? A quick glance at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual tabulation of weapons exports would certainly suggest so. From Asia to the Middle East, demand for machines designed mainly for air superiority continues to be strong.
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NewsDARPA to hold open competition for XS-1 demonstration phase
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will accept outside bids for the construction and demonstration of a reusable, unmanned “XS-1” spaceplane.
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NewsUSAF firming A-X requirements for A-10 'Warthog' alternative
A draft requirement document that articulated the US Air Force’s need for a new attack aircraft optimised for close air support missions is being circulated within the five walls of the Pentagon and will be reviewed by the service chief “this spring”.
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NewsUSAF backs off sixth-gen 'fighter' in quest for air supremacy
The US Air Force will begin an extensive campaign of prototyping and experimentation relating to new air superiority technologies, including new aircraft types, after completing a wide-ranging examination of future air battle concepts and weaponry.
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News
Alaska base selected to house F-35 squadrons
The US Air Force will station two operational F-35A squadrons on America’s northwestern flank in Alaska, nearby where F-22s typically intercept long-range Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers.
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NewsDARPA selects industry teams for 'Gremlins' UAV project
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has picked four teams for its Gremlins project, which aims to launch volleys of small, low-cost unmanned air vehicles from bombers, cargo aircraft or possibly even fighter jets, and recover them via a Lockheed Martin C-130 transport.
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NewsPentagon touts "Loyal Wingman" for combat jets
US Air Force plans to insert a “brain” into current-generation fighter jets to create autonomous flying wingmen paired with the Lockheed Martin F-35 were given a bump today, with the Pentagon’s second-in-charge saying he expects to see “unmanned wingman in the air” before convoys of driverless Humvees.
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OpinionOPINION: High-altitude stakes soar for U-2 successor
Since the Space Shuttle’s final mission in 2011, Americans have had to explain to their children that the only way to space now is via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, blasting off from Kazakhstan. This storyline is only being corrected with the development of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Dragon ...
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NewsRaytheon and Northrop contracted for JSTARS radar battle
The US Air Force has locked in Raytheon and Northrop Grumman as its two competing radar vendors for the new-generation Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) programme. Each has been awarded “no-to-exceed” contracts with ceiling values of $60 million and $70 million, respectively, according to a contract announcement ...
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NewsUSAF still does not know why its Block 1 MQ-9s fail
The US Air Force says it has avoided 17 more MQ-9 Reapers crashes since last April thanks to a backup electrical system that has been installed as a safeguard against a still-undetermined problem with the starter-generator on the Block 1 version's Honeywell turboprop engine.
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NewsUSAF to begin converting L-model Back Hawks into HH-60Gs
The US Air Force expects to begin converting 21 second-hand US Army L-model Black Hawks to the HH-60G Pave Hawk standard for combat rescue missions “later this year”.
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NewsUSAF eyes 41 UH-60Ms for $1.4 billion to recap patrol Hueys
The US Air Force says it needs 41 new helicopters to help guard and escort nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, more than 400 of which are on alert at three air force bases in America’s far north.
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NewsF-35 chief expects P&W's bomber work to reduce F135 cost
The head of the multinational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme expects Pratt & Whitney to significantly reduce the cost of the F135 now that it has been named as the propulsion system supplier for the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber.