All United States Air Force articles – Page 22
-
NewsPentagon worried about dwindling USAF fighter numbers
US deputy secretary of defence Robert Work has expressed concern about the size of the US Air Force’s tactical fighter force, which has dropped from 88 squadrons before the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 to just 54 squadrons today.
-
NewsSupport builds for USAF to replace Hueys with Black Hawks
The US Air Force will decide in “next couple of weeks” whether to procure Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to replace the Vietnam-era Bell UH-1N Hueys that protect America’s nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles.
-
NewsPenalty for breaking Northrop's B-21 contract is '$300 million'
The US Air Force says it would cost the US government upward of $300 million to breaks its cost-plus contract with Northrop Grumman to develop the B-21 strategic bomber.
-
NewsUSAF wants on-time F-X, not more F-22s
The US Air Force has no interest in restarting production of the Lockheed Martin F-22, partly because it too expensive and because it wants to move quickly on a next-generation fighter.
-
NewsUSAF studying future attack aircraft options
The US Air Force has begun studying future close air support aircraft to succeed the Fairchild Republic A-10 as the Pentagon evaluates the weaponry it needs for “prolonged operations” of one year or more.
-
NewsAviation accounts restored in DOD 'unfunded priority' lists
If Congress directed an extra $690.5 million to the US Air Force, it would restore the five Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft that it cut from its fiscal year 2017 budget request. The US Marine Corps, meanwhile, would spend a $750 million windfall on two more F-35Bs and two ...
-
AnalysisANALYSIS: America's hypersonic missile revolution beckons
Long before hitching a ride to the moon aboard Apollo 11, then US Air Force test pilot Neil Armstrong was zipping around in a rocket-powered North American X-15, which to this day remains the fastest manned, winged aircraft ever built. That flight record of Mach 6.72 or 7,274km/h was set ...
-
NewsUSAF flaunts ‘arsenal plane’ concept at Air Warfare Symposium
The US Air Force has offered the first artist’s impression of the Pentagon’s “arsenal plane” concept in a video presented by service secretary Deborah Lee James at an Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
-
NewsUSAF Global Strike chief seeks beefed-up bomber force
The head of US Air Force Global Strike Command has called for a beefed-up bomber force of “175 to 200” bombers and will make a formal recommendation to the service chief of staff and major command leaders next month.
-
NewsUSAF reveals Northrop's B-21 long-range strike bomber
The US Air Force has revealed its bomber for the 21st century, the Northrop Grumman B-21 long-range strike bomber.
-
NewsEnhanced MQ-9 carries out maiden flight
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has carried out the maiden flight of an enhanced endurance variant of its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned air vehicle at its Palmdale, California facility.
-
NewsNorthrop preparing German Euro Hawk to fly again
The Northrop Grumman-built “Euro Hawk” unmanned air vehicle will fly again after the Germany Air Force decided to resume testing of the aircraft and its Airbus Defence & Space signals intelligence payload.
-
NewsUS Air Mobility Command readying for KC-46A introduction
The head of US Air Mobility Command says he is not overly concerned about the Boeing KC-46A’s eight-month development delay and legacy KC-10 and KC-135 aerial tankers will not start retiring until the next-generation tanker is ready for combat.
-
NewsUS fighter and bomber chiefs embrace Pentagon's 'arsenal plane' plan
The US Air Force’s top fighter and bomber commands are actively pushing for the introduction of so-called arsenal planes as they seek to “fling” long-range weapons into future warzone guarded by sophisticated enemy air defence systems as a compliment to front-line stealth fighters.
-
NewsUSAF reveals slimmed-down SACM air-to-air missile concept
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) says it has begun early research into a miniature air-to-air missile that would be carried on the next-generation of advanced fighter jets.
-
NewsNorthrop RQ-4B trials Dragon Lady’s SYERS-2 sensor
The US Air Force's Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle has successfully flown one of the Lockheed Martin U-2’s most prized sensors in an aerial demonstration from Northrop’s Palmdale, California site.
-
AnalysisANALYSIS: Defence firms get creative at Air Warfare Symposium
The Air Force Association’s annual gathering in Orlando, Florida has convened again, and the turnout this week reflects an ambitious US Air Force that is reaching for the future while also searching for new and inventive ways to boost the destructive power of its legacy aircraft.
-
NewsTrial F-35A deployment smooths path for first combat squadron
Six F-35A of 31st Test Evaluation Squadron have deployed to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho this month for an “operational deployment test” that will clear the way for 10 operational jets from the first combat-coded squadron, which will follow this summer.
-
NewsUSAF ditches Black Hawk revival in search for Huey replacement
The US Air Force needs $2.5 billion to replace its 62 outdated Bell UH-1N Twin Hueys and is now considering whether to sole-source a portion of that 72-aircraft requirement for security operations around its 450 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos.
-
NewsF-22 Raptors in South Korea as warning to 'provocative' North
American F-22 Raptors have joined locally based F-16s and F-15K Slam Eagles in South Korea for a show of force following “provocative actions” by the North.