Bomber Mishap
A B-1B bomber caught fire while taxiing after landing April 4 at an air base in Southwest Asia. USAF said the aircrew safely evacuated the aircraft, and the fire was contained. A board of inquiry has been appointed to investigate...
“Our Biggest Concern”
The Air Force’s total flying hours per year “has stayed about the same” since 1992, but the fleet today is “31 percent smaller” in size and “41 percent older,” Gen. Duncan McNabb, Vice Chief of Staff, told the Senate Armed...
Some Staggering Data
For those of us wondering about the importance of overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to the ongoing fight, here are some illuminating numbers told to the Daily Report by Air Combat Command. Airborne ISR sensors monitored 60 targets in...
Inclusion
Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, said last week it remains a top priority of his to get all of the necessary annual funding to sustain the air sovereignty alert missions that protect the US homeland...
What Changed With the KC-X Evaluation Model?
Shedding some light on the Air Force’s position, Sue Payton, USAF’s acquisition executive, said April 1 that the modifications that the service made to the Integrated Fleet Aerial Refueling Assessment model used during the KC-X source-selection evaluation were instituted “just...
Fresh Look
An independent assessment of the Airborne Laser program is still a good idea, Paul Francis, the Government Accountability Office’s director for acquisition and sourcing management, told the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee April 1. “I think boost phase is...
Training with an Eastern Partner
Four C-130 transports and about 170 airmen from Ramstein AB, Germany, concluded the 12-day Exercise Thracian Spring with the Bulgarian military April 6 at Bezmer Aviation Base, Bulgaria. The annual bilateral exercise allowed training and knowledge sharing between paratroopers, pilots,...
Cyber Warfare
Cyber Warfare: Boeing and Northrop Grumman are at it in full force. The war of words between the two over the Air Force’s KC-X tanker award to Northrop Grumman Feb. 29 has elevated into a battle for cyber supremacy. In...
DOD Making IDs Less Vulnerable
DOD Making IDs Less Vulnerable: As a means of combating identity theft, the Department of Defense over the next two years is phasing out the practice of issuing identification cards with the holder’s full social security number. Between 2009 and...
Air Sorties From GWOT
Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaApril 2-3, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 49 17 66 2,522 CAS/Armed Recon 135 78 213 7,655 Airlift 308 308 11,414 Air refueling 97 97 3,536 Total 684 25,127...