Stepping Out With the JSF Fire Control

Sept. 9, 2005

Northrop Grumman is now flight testing the advanced fire-control radar system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The active electronically scanned array radar—AN/APG-81—has checked out in top form against airborne and ground-based targets, stated a company news release. Northrop plans to deliver the first system to Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Tex., in November. There it will meet up with the other F-35 avionics for additional testing.

Related Content

DARPA Changing Directors Again in Third Recent Shuffle

Jan. 21, 2021
The Biden administration is reportedly tapping Stefanie Tompkins to run the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, spurring the third leadership change at the secretive Pentagon organization since January 2020. Defense One first reported Tompkins’s “pre-decisional” appointment to the post on Jan. 19. The White House did not respond to a…

Thousands of Guardsmen Remain in Capital Region After Inauguration

Jan. 21, 2021
The National Guard Bureau is working with states to drawdown “close to 15,000” of the nearly 26,000 troops still in the nation's capital following President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Of that total, about 10,600 were still on duty as of the evening of Jan. 21, NGB wrote in a…

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 22

Jan. 21, 2021
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Virtual Events: Bierbauer, Cooter, Marks on Mitchell’s ‘Aerospace Nation’

Jan. 21, 2021
On Jan.22, The Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host an installment of its “Aerospace Nation” series featuring the authors of the new book “Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselves: The Inside Story of How a Team of Renegades Broke Rules, Shattered Barriers, and Launched a Drone…

Congress Approves Waiver for Austin to Become SecDef

Jan. 21, 2021
Congress on Jan. 21 approved a waiver clearing the way for Lloyd Austin to be the next Defense Secretary, with a confirmation vote expected as early as the morning of Jan. 22. Austin, who retired from the Army in 2016 as the four-star commander of U.S. Central Command, needed Congressional…

More USAFA Cadets Headed for Space Force in 2021

Jan. 21, 2021
The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado plans to send more students to the Space Force in 2021 than it did in the first cohort last year, the school’s superintendent said Jan. 21. About 115 USAFA cadets will head to the Space Force upon graduation in May, up from 86…

Boeing Receives $2.1 Billion for the Next KC-46 Production Lot

Jan. 21, 2021
The Air Force on Jan. 20 awarded Boeing a $2.1 billion contract for the seventh KC-46 production lot, covering 15 aircraft. The award means there are now 94 KC-46s on contract, and the Air Force plans to buy 179 of the aircraft. It comes just eight days after Boeing received…

Engine Failure, Aircrew Mistakes Caused Fatal E-11A Crash in Afghanistan

Jan. 21, 2021
E-11A aircrew shut down the wrong engine during an in-flight emergency and were unable to restart the aircraft’s powerplants, causing the Jan. 27, 2020, crash that killed both pilots in Afghanistan, an Air Force investigation found. The crash killed Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss and Capt. Ryan S. Phaneuf, both…

USAF to Let Women Wear Longer Ponytails, Braids in Uniform

Jan. 21, 2021
Female Airmen and Guardians will soon be able to let their hair down—at least a little. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. recently approved a recommendation by the Air Force uniform board to allow women to wear their hair in one or two braids, or a…