Daily Report

Aug. 30, 2016

All Enlisted Airmen Eligible to Fly RQ-4s

All enlisted airmen are now eligible to apply to become RQ-4 Global Hawk pilots. The move expands the pool of possible aviators to the entire service; previously, only career-enlisted aviators were eligible to apply. Airmen have from Sept. 1 to...

Air Force’s 100th F-35

The Air Force’s 100th F-35 Lightning II strike fighter arrived at Luke AFB, Ariz., on Friday, less than a month after the service declared its latest fifth generation aircraft was ready for combat, according to a release. Luke, which received...

Finding Budget Stability

The use of overseas contingency operations funds to meet non-war needs hinders effective planning and budgetary discipline, former Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale said Monday. As OCO funding is not subject to binding budget caps, it has been increasingly used to...

Suggestions, but Little Detail

Both leading presidential candidates are expected to increase defense spending, though neither has detailed their plans, a group of budget experts agreed during a panel discussion Monday. During the event hosted by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., Maya MacGuineas,...

Iran Deploys S-300 to Uranium Enrichment Facility

Iran has moved to protect an underground uranium enrichment facility by placing Russian-made advanced surface-to-air missiles at the site. Iranian state TV on Sunday reported that the country placed an S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system at its Furdow underground uranium...

Increasing Cooperation With India

Defense Secretary Ash Carter met Monday with Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar to further increase the partnership between the two militaries after the US designated India as a “major defense partner” earlier this summer. Carter and Parrikar on Monday...

Air Commandos Step Up Training Game

The Air Force’s 27th Special Operations Wing, out of Cannon AFB, N.M., stepped up its training profile last month by executing a full mission exercise in the remote mountains of Utah and Colorado, according to an Aug. 26 release. Instead...

Bell’s V-280 to Use F-35-Like Sensors

The V-280 Valor tiltrotor, Bell Helicopter’s entry in the Army’s Joint Multi-Role helicopter development program, will make use of 360 degree image sensors similar to those on the F-35, Scout Warrior reported. The technology will give both pilots, as well...