Daily Report

Feb. 11, 2016

USAF To Test Integrated Wing

The Air Force will test a new Total Force organizational construct called the “integrated wing,” or I-Wing, later this year, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel on Wednesday. The I-Wing, which will be...

More Money for Nuke Modernization

The National Nuclear Security Administration boosted its defense program budget request for Fiscal 2017 by 4.5 percent above Fiscal 2016 appropriations, mainly to support nuclear warhead modernization, officials announced. “The FY 2017 budget request is a strong endorsement of NNSA’s...

On-Time IOC Still Within Reach

Despite challenges with software and the Autonomic Logistics Information System, the Air Force could still achieve initial operational capability with the F-35 by the Aug. 1 target date, program director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Wednesday, adding he’ll know in...

F-35 Cuts Don’t Start a Death Spiral

Even though the Air Force is cutting five F-35As from its fiscal 2017 budget and more in the out-years, the net effect on price will be “way less than one percent,” program director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Wednesday. Bogdan...

This Way to the Egress

A recent report from the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation suggesting a major issue with the F-35’s escape system isn’t as big a deal as it was made to sound, Joint Strike Fighter program director Lt. Gen. Christopher...

Keeping the Power On

The Air Force hasn’t focused enough on energy assurance, and it is trying to “do more, do better” in Fiscal 2017, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee on Wednesday. USAF officials have directed...

Carrying on the ISIS Fight

The US-led coalition has “more than enough bombers” to carry out airstrikes even as Air Force B-1s have returned home and six Canadian CF-18s will leave the fight by the end of the month, the coalition spokesman said. Combined Joint...

Hammer Time

B-52s from Minot AFB, N.D., dropped a variety of precision-guided weapons during a Combat Hammer weapons system evaluation at Tyndall AFB, Fla., this week. “The exercise evaluates everything from building the bomb, to loading the bomb, to planning the sortie,...

Frontier Tankers Nod to the Last Frontier

The Alaska Air National Guard retitled the 168th Air Refueling Wing to acknowledge its additional radar space surveillance mission last week, officials announced. The 168th Air Refueling Wing was redesignated the 168th WG to represent both its KC-135 squadron at...