Daily Report

April 27, 2016

Goldfein Nominated to be Next CSAF

President Obama has nominated Gen. David Goldfein to serve as the next Chief of Staff of the Air Force, according to an April 26 Pentagon announcement. If confirmed by the Senate, Goldfein, who currently serves as USAF vice chief of...

OIR Goes Multi-Domain

The US has begun to use “our exquisite cyber capabilities” in the fight against ISIS, the campaign’s deputy commander for operations and intelligence told reporters Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten said cyber operations “are cloaked in the highest of secrecy,”...

Knock Knock

The coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria recently used a measure known as a “knock operation” to avoid civilian casualties while destroying a facility where the terror group’s money is stored in Mosul, Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten told reporters...

SASC Approves Robinson Nomination

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson to be the next commander of US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. If approved by the full Senate, Robinson, who...

Improving F-35 Software Reliability

The F-35 Joint Program Office has seen a dramatic increase in the stability of its Block 3i software, which previously caused the jet’s radar to regularly shut down. Pilots flying an earlier version reported a difference in “nanoseconds” of communication...

Go Ask ALIS

It’s almost certain the Air Force will declare initial operating capability with the F-35A closer to Oct. 1 than the long-planned Aug. 1 target date. Top Pentagon acquisition, program, test, and audit officials told members of the Senate Armed Services...

F-35 OT&E Slipping Away

Operational, test, and evaluation of the full-up F-35 will be a minimum of six months behind schedule, though it most likely will be a year late because of a number of issues still vexing the program, Pentagon operational, test, and...

A Close Air Support Capability Gap?

F-35 Program Executive Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told Senate legislators on Tuesday the Joint Strike Fighter’s current schedule shows it will not be able to use the Small Diameter Bomb II until 2022, the year the Air Force plans to...

Final Pegasus Test Aircraft Joins Fleet

The fourth and final test aircraft has joined the KC-46 Pegasus fleet after a 767-2C, known as EMD-3, completed its first flight April 25, according to a Boeing release. The 767-2C—a KC-46 without the aerial refueling system—took off from Paine...