First JSF Nears Completion

The horizontal tails on the first F-35 have been installed at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility, marking completion of major structural component assembly by the Joint Strike Fighter team, the company announced Tuesday. The next major milestone for the fifth generation fighter is engine installation in early 2006. Lockheed says Pratt & Whitney is scheduled to deliver the F135 engine to Texas before the end of December.

Would Pentagon End JSF Engine Competition?

At least one news report quotes an anonymous source saying DOD plans to curtail development of a second F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine to save money in the Fiscal 2007 budget. The General Electric and Rolls Royce Fighter Engine Team...

What’s This Talk About a Light Cargo Aircraft?

There’s been some speculation about whether the Air Force has any role in the Army’s plan to replace or augment its C-23 Sherpa fleet of small transports. The answer is: The Air Force is “partnering with the Army” on discussion...

Recollection of the AVG Flying Tigers

Recollection of the AVG Flying Tigers: The Pentagon has a new special page on their Web site called “Remembering the Flying Tigers.” It provides a couple of articles about the history of the American Volunteer Group, which formed and flew...

Quite a Sight—17 C-17s in Formation:

Seventeen C-17s from the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C., took off and flew over South Carolina’s Cooper River Tuesday—entering into formation and breaking a record. The C-17s conducted low-level training in the Charleston area, before performing an airdrop...

Moving Out With the ICBM Makeover

According to the new commander of 20th Air Force, the 20th is going through a major transformation. “I would like to think about smarter, better, more efficient ways we can accomplish our mission in today’s environment,” said Brig. Gen. Thomas...

No Melded Rocket Launch Team This Year

It looks like the merger for Lockheed Martin and Boeing launch services—United Launch Alliance—will not happen before year’s end. The Washington Post reports there are still snags with the FTC and Pentagon. The rework the two companies did on their...

AETC Steps Out With One-for-All Desktop

AETC Steps Out With “One-for-All” Desktop: Air Education and Training Command officials say AETC is set to introduce the first across-the-board standard desktop computer configuration in January. The effort is part of a 5-year, $70 million Air Force Microsoft Services...

Ramstein Facility Sees 30,000th Patient

The 435th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility at Ramstein AB, Germany, recently supported the movement of its 30,000th patient since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003. The CASF provides care and support for patients flown into Germany from Iraq or Afghanistan,...

PACAF Ships Out Last M117

The 36th Munitions Squadron at Andersen AFB, Guam, inspected, re-palletized, loaded, and delivered more than over 7,700 M117 bombs to a Navy installation in the Marianas Islands, reports MSgt. Allison Day of the Guam Pacific Edge. The 750-pound bombs are...

S-J EOD Airman Gets the Bronze

SrA. Justin Frewin, an EOD technician, was awarded the Bronze Star recently for actions while deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in 2004. The Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C., airman was called along with other inspectors to look at a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device...

Hillary & Friends Secure 9/11 Credit for Guardsmen:

DOD now has to count the service of National Guard troops who were called to duty at Ground Zero during the immediate aftermath of 9/11. New York lawmakers Sen. Hillary Clinton (D), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), and Rep. Peter King...

Air Strikes in SWA:

USAF F-16s and Navy F/A-18s on Dec. 19 performed air strikes against anti-Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Salman Pak, Iraq, strafing the target and launching precision-guided munitions.

JFCOM Works on Visualization:

US Joint Forces Command has asked defense industry and academics to help develop “sophisticated 3D imagery that displays geospatial data for all elements of power, including political, military, economic, and social, infrastructure, and information.” While it sounds like JFCOM is...

It Was On Again, Now It’s Off Again:

A fuel tank problem with a rocket carrying a US Air Force Academy satellite has forced the delay of its launch until at least January, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. The FaclonSat 2 was poised on Dec. 19 for...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

December 19, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 13 4 – 17 CAS/Armed Recon 50 20 – 70 Airlift – – 190 190 Air refueling – – 34 34 Total 63 24 224 311 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...