Kunsan Gets Revamped F-16s:

The 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan AB, South Korea, has received the first four of newly upgraded Block 40 F-16s. The wing’s current Block 40 Vipers do not have the Common Configuration Implementation Program upgrades that include enhanced avionics, featuring...

Lowest Cost Not So Critical?:

The Air Force has placed price of its KC-X tanker replacement at a lower level than four other key criteria, reports Andrea Shalal-Esa of Reuters news service. The service plans to rate a combination of four other criteria—mission capability, proposal...

Careful What You Say:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has sent Boeing a letter expressing his “disappointment” about company comments recently that he interpreted as disparaging of Mobile, Ala., reports George Talbot of the Press-Register. Mobile is the site of rival Northrop Grumman’s proposed KC-30...

Filling the Void:

Airmen of the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing are spending the next two months, rather than the usual two to three weeks, at Andersen AFB, Guam, to help fill the void left by ANG KC-135 units unable...

California ANG Takes Mission Back:

The California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing, based at Fresno, once again has picked up the air defense mission that it flew for years out of March ARB, Calif., reports the Press-Enterprise. The Montana ANG’s 120th FW has been...

Growing a Workforce:

Two Georgia colleges have agreed to form partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia and the Defense Acquisition University, based in Virginia, reports The Telegraph. A release from Macon State College, which signed an agreement with WRALC that...

Spatial Disorientation Led to F-16 Crash:

An Air Combat Command accident investigation board has concluded that pilot spatial disorientation was the cause of the June 15 crash of an F-16 in Iraq. As we reported earlier, Ohio Air National Guard pilot Lt. Col. Kevin Sonnenberg was...

One and Only:

There is only one Air Force aeromedical evacuation unit in Afghanistan, and it has flown more than 508 patients since May, reports SSgt. Joshua Jasper. The 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, comprising 17 Air National Guard and nine active duty...

Awed by the C-17:

The recent Brno International Air Festival in the Czech Republic had among its featured aircraft a C-17 from March ARB, Calif. SrA. David Flaherty reports that airmen from Air Force Reserve Command’s 729th Airlift Squadron flew the “Spirit of California”...

The Climate Change Effect:

The Pentagon most likely will have to start updating defense plans soon, taking into account projected climate change. Government Executive reports that the Senate-approved version of the 2008 defense authorization bill includes a provision, just as the House version of...

First Production Growler in Hand:

Boeing recently delivered the first production EA-18G Growler to the Navy, “ahead of schedule and within budget,” according to a Boeing release. The Navy plans to have the Growler replace the EA-6B Prowler, which it has contracted Northrop Grumman to...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Oct. 3-4, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 39 22 61 CAS/Armed Recon 121 78 199 Airlift 292 292 Air refueling 101 101 Total 160 100 393 653 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...