Daily Report

June 10, 2014

Capped Out

It’s time to rethink the number of remotely piloted aircraft combat air patrols as a metric of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability, said Lt. Gen. Bob Otto, who oversees ISR matters on the Air Staff, on Monday. In 2006, with...

Getting Contested ISR

The Air Force is mulling how to receive and transmit intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data in contested environments, said Lt. Gen. Bob Otto, the Air Staff’s intelligence chief, on Monday. Being able to link together assets that can operate in...

More Bombers to Britain

A pair of B-2 stealth bombers forward deployed to RAF Fairford, England, for training with allies, announced US military officials. This deployment comes of the heels of last week’s dispatch of a trio of B-52s there for exercises with NATO...

For Those Hard-to-Reach Areas

Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance chief Lt. Gen. Bob Otto said the service is working on the RQ-180 remotely piloted aircraft to give it better access to contested airspace, where the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk and manned U-2S platforms...

F-35 LRIP 8 Deal Expected Soon

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin should reach agreement “in the summer timeframe” on a price for Lot 8 low-rate initial production of F-35 strike fighters, said Lorraine Martin, the company’s F-35 program manager, on Monday. She also suggested the deal...

Warthogs to Reapers

The last two A-10C ground-attack airplanes assigned to the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing left Fort Smith for good, ending the wing’s manned flying mission, and ushering in its new mission, which includes operating MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft....

Warmth of an Icy Friendship

F-15Cs flew 60 sorties over the arctic environs of Iceland during a three-week NATO air policing rotation to Keflavik. This deployment concluded on June 5 after three weeks, according to a June 9 Keflavik release. A KC-135 tanker from RAF...

Nellis Slated to Host Another Large Solar Plant

SunPower of San Jose will construct a 19-megawatt solar photovoltaic power system at Nellis AFB, Nev., announced the company. SunPower completed a 14-megawatt solar plant at Nellis in 2007. At the time, it was the largest solar photovoltaic power plant...

Grand Opening for New Plattsburgh Museum

Local officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Plattsburgh, N.Y., to mark the grand opening of the new Air Force Museum at the site of the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base, reported WCAX of nearby Burlington, Vt. “Ever since the base...