All United States Air Force articles – Page 27
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NewsRussia and China’s bomber plans could muster support for LRS-B
Russia and China’s pursuit of modern, long-range bombers is essentially an endorsement of the US Long-Range Strike Bomber, and not the start of some Cold War-era bomber race. That’s the view of retired US Air Force Lt Gen David Deptula, now dean of the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute.
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NewsUSAF science panel recommends MQ-9, RQ-4 improvement plan
A panel of military scientists is briefing senior US Air Force leaders on ways to make the defenceless General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper and Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk more useful in a war against a sophisticated enemy that has the ability to hunt and kill aircraft.
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NewsUS Special Forces receive first AC-130J Ghostrider gunship
US Air Force Special Operations Command has received its first AC-130J Ghostrider gunship ahead of operational testing that it due to start later this year.
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NewsUSAF unveils roadmap for microwave weapons use
The US Air Force Research Laboratory has unveiled a technology roadmap for its cruise missile-based “CHAMP” high-power microwave weapon that successfully fried banks of computers at a test range in October 2012.
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NewsUS Special Forces pursuing AC-130-based ‘active denial system’
US Air Force Special Operations Command’s plans to mount an airborne laser and active denial system onto its new AC-130J Ghostrider gunship is maturing and has the strong support of the scientific community within the flying branch.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Northrop battling to retain JSTARS as Lockheed, Boeing bid on recap
An effort to recapitalise the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) with a modern business jet is shaping up to be this summer’s blockbuster defence programme, with three solid industry teams now vying for the $6.5 billion prize and Raytheon working on a curious new airborne ...
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NewsF-35 gun tests start while US Marines await IOC decision
Activity on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme has reached fever pitch, with the US Air Force now testing the aircraft’s 25mm Gatling gun and a Marine Corps IOC decision imminent.
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NewsUSAF rules out international A-10 sales
The US Air Force has closed the lid on discussions about shopping the A-10 Warthog to allies, telling Flightglobal it will not sell the close-in attack aircraft to anyone.
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NewsUSAF Rude Rams fighter squadron reactivates to support F-35 IOC
The first US Air Force fighter squadron destine to fly combat-coded F-35A Joint Strike Fighters has been reactivated at Hill Air Force Base in Utah as the flying branch prepares to declare initial operational capability in August 2016.
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NewsNASA and USAF study effect of volcanic ash on C-17 engines
Researchers at Edwards Air Force Base in California have begun ingesting C-17 engines with volcanic ash to trial new health monitoring and diagnosis technologies that could improve aircraft safety and fault detection.
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NewsUSAF still hoping for 18 KC-46A tankers by 2017 despite slip
The US Air Force’s programme executive officer for tankers is cautiously optimistic that Boeing can deliver its first 18 operational KC-46A Pegasus aircraft by August 2017 as required, but says he doesn’t have his “head in the sand” either.
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NewsUSAF reaffirms ambitious T-X sustained-g requirement
The US Air Force is not backing away from the ambitious sustained g requirement for its T-X next-generation trainer that has sidelined at least two proposed aircraft types and driven competitors toward clean-sheet designs.
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NewsUSAF doing more to help foreign sales of American aircraft
The US Air Force’s top acquisition executive says the service wants to do more to support the sale of American-made aircraft and parts abroad, and one proposal that is gaining momentum is to complete airworthiness certification even before foreign military sales (FMS) case emerges.
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NewsUS lawmaker keen to speed up bomber buy
The chairman of the influential US House committee on strategic forces says the air force’s long-range strike bomber fleet should be delivered sooner than the current estimates, which place “initial capability in the 2020s” and full capability in the 2030s.
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OpinionOPINION: Ageing US nuclear bombers not fit for a superpower
The United States’ nuclear bomber force has something of a morale problem.
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NewsLockheed Legion Pod takes flight on F-16
Lockheed Martin has flight tested its new Legion Pod infrared search-and-track system for the first time on its F-16 Fighting Falcon in Fort Worth, Texas, as the US Air Force explores upgrades to make its legacy fighters more competitive against modern airborne threats.
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NewsUSAF’s ultra-lethal carbon fibre bomb approved for export
The United States plans to export an advanced, tungsten-laden bomb that is designed to cause less collateral damage than its predecessors, but be more lethal.
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NewsNew report pokes holes in USAF’s argument for retiring the A-10
The US Government Accountability Office has raised doubts about an air force claim that retiring the A-10C Warthog would save the government $4.2 billion over five years, and says capability gaps will emerge without close-in attack aircraft.
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NewsUPDATE: F-16 belonging to Iraqi Air Force crashes in Arizona
The US Air Force has confirmed that one of the Iraqi Air Force’s brand new Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons has crashed in the Arizona desert in an apparent training accident.
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NewsBombers or boomers? DoD faces a nuclear spending dilemma
The greatest threat to the US long-range strike bomber (LRS-B) programme could be a submarine, with a new report showing that modernisation of the sea-based leg of the USA’s nuclear triad dwarfs planned spending on airborne assets