In a dramatic change, the Air Force wants to shed a large portion of its legacy fighter fleet in 2010 to save upwards of $3.4 billion that it could then apply to areas such as bomber modernization, intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance expansion, and...

Air Combat Command head Gen. John Corley told Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, last month that he’s “very impressed” with the Airborne Laser based on a program update that he received. The program “has overcome significant technical challenges,” Corley wrote to Obering in an internal memo the Daily Report acquired and confirmed with ACC. And it “appears to be tracking well” for a big flight test next year, he added. During this test, the ABL, a modified 747 freighter aircraft that fires a powerful laser beam out of a nose turret, will attempt to shoot down a boosting ballistic missile. Corley said he is aware of how fiscal constraints have been affecting the ABL program, but reaffirmed that “this technology should remain on track” to achieve the aircraft’s primary mission—the anti-ballistic missile role. Additionally, he said he’s “very interested in the aircraft's potential for adjunct missions.” For example, there has been discussion in the past of the ABL’s notional ability to attack ground targets and shoot down cruise missiles. (For more, read the September 2003 Air Force Magazine article Setting a Course for the Airborne Laser.) Corley said ACC “remains committed” to transformational technologies that offer the accuracy, flexibility, command and control, and power that a platform like the ABL promises. The command, he noted, has published the ABL operational concept document and will continue to refine it as system performance is better understood. Shortly after Corley’s memo, the ABL program achieved a significant milestone when the laser was fired for the first time aboard the aircraft during a ground test.

Discussing a new report, “Military Manpower for the Long Haul,” from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Steven Kosiak, CSBA vice president for budget studies, told reporters Oct. 15 that the military, particularly the Army, faces long-term manpower challenges,...

Three combat controllers with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., received Bronze Star medals, two with valor. TSgt. Christopher Grove—Bronze Star with Valor—directed the release of some 20,000 pounds of ordnance to destroy an 80-strong enemy force...

Intel Airman Receives Bronze Star: The Air Force has awarded 1st Lt. Eric Snelgrove a Bronze Star medal for his intelligence work with Army special forces while deployed to northern Iraq from May to November 2007. Snelgrove, commander of the...

The Department of Defense will conduct a study of space-based ballistic missile defense starting in Fiscal 2009 based on a $5 million earmark included in the defense appropriations bill that President Bush signed into law Sept. 30. The Washington Times...

A large piece of a BDU-33 dummy bomb struck a truck Wednesday that was traveling south on a major Las Vegas strip near Nellis AFB, Nev. The driver was shaken but not hurt in the accident, which occurred at about...

More than 200 new Air Force Art Program paintings from about 150 artists will be on display Oct. 21-24 at the officers’ club at Bolling AFB, D.C. The exhibit will feature paintings donated by artists who traveled to document the...

Oct. 14, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 32 14 46 10,428 CAS/Armed Recon 45 66 111 29,494 Airlift 130 130 37,558 Air refueling 57 57 14,558 Total 344 91,754 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...