Daily Report

March 17, 2015

Lakenheath Maintainer Awarded Airman’s Medal for Heroism

Gen. Frank Gorenc, US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa commander, presented SSgt. Greggory Swarz the Airman’s Medal during a ceremony at Lakenheath AB, Britain, according to a base release. Gorenc recognized Swarz, a member of Lakenheath’s 492nd...

Predator B Fleet Hits One Million Flight Hours

Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft operated by the United States and other countries recently reached one million cumulative flight hours, announced manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems on Monday. Nearly 90 percent of the 78,606 sorties over a 14-year period...

Spang Vipers in Romania

Airmen and F-16s from Spangdahlem AB, Germany, along with airmen from Ramstein AB, Germany, are participating in a two-week interoperability exercise with Romanian air force personnel and MiG-21s at Campia Turzii, Romania, announced the Romanian defense ministry. “Participation in Dacian...

No Eyes in the Clumsy Skies

Air Mobility Command accident investigators determined that inadequate visual scanning and overreliance on collision avoidance systems by the crews of an Air Force Reserve Command C-130H and Army Special Operations Command C-27J caused the midair collision of these airplanes near...

Venezuela Stages Large Military Drills

Tensions between the Venezuelan government and Obama Administration escalated in the last week, with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordering 10 days of massive ground, naval, and air defense exercises. On March 9, the White House sanctioned seven senior Venezuelan officials...

Afghan Air Force Grows More Potent

The Afghan air force is preparing for increased military operations against Taliban and militant forces this spring and has significantly expanded its capabilities and close air support weaponry since last year, according to a release from US air advisors. In...

US Builds Global Share of Defense Market

The United States has steadily increased its share of the global arms market, even as US defense spending has dipped, announced the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on Monday. The volume of US exports has risen as US firms have...

Testing Tougher Paint

Texas Research Institute Austin, a small business partner of the Air Force Research Lab, is developing a new coating for the F-35 strike fighter designed to dramatically improve resistance to heat and degradation caused by abrasion, according to a release....

CyberPatriot VII Winners Announced

?The members of Team CyberSloths from Grissom High School in Huntsville, Ala., are the national champions in the Open Division of AFA’s CyberPatriot VII national youth cyber defense competition. The CyberSloths triumphed in the national finals held last week in...

Correction

Monday’s entry on NATO’s AWACS fleet incorrectly stated that F-35 strike fighters would eventually replace NATO AWACS aircraft. We’ve corrected the entry.?