The nation must preserve its “unparalleled airpower capabilities” to deter and defeat conventional competitors and respond to global crises, writes the new Administration in its newly issued defense agenda. (Full document) To do so, it calls for “greater investment in...

The Obama Administration’s defense agenda (see above) also includes support for the planned increase of the Army by 65,000 troops and Marine Corps by 27,000 personnel; building up special operations forces, civil affairs, and information operations; and seeking a worldwide...

Yesterday, we reported that nearly half of all Senators have called on the new Administration to continue production of the F-22. Today, in a similar display of strong bipartisan support, we note that a group of nearly half of all House members, led by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), has done the same. In a Jan. 21 letter, 191 House members (by our count), including senior members of the defense oversight committees, urge the new President to keep building the stealth fighters while the Defense Department undertakes a more in-depth analysis of the F-22 requirement in the context of the national security issues that will be examined in the forthcoming quadrennial defense review. “Continued F-22 production is critical to the security of our nation,” states the letter. The 183 F-22s procured to date are “insufficient to meet potential threats,” the House members write. Because of this as well as the Raptor’s “model production line” that would be extremely difficult to reconstitute once halted and the high-quality jobs sustained by the aircraft’s “vital industrial base,” they ask Obama to certify “expeditiously” that continued F-22 production is in the economic and national security interests of the nation. The President is required by a provision in the Fiscal 2009 defense authorization act to inform Congress by March 1 if he intends to keep buying F-22s or close the production line. (For more, read Gingrey’s release.)

Airmen from Travis AFB, Calif., operating in Kigali, Rwanda, loaded the final pieces of heavy equipment destined for Rwandan peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region onto a C-17 Jan. 16. The subsequent C-17 flight represented the final phase of the Air...

The Air Force is less than 6,000 airmen short of its goal of reaching an active duty end strength of 330,000 in Fiscal 2010, based on end-of-the year figures for 2008. According to the Air Force Personnel Center, the active...

The Air Force on Jan. 17 successfully launched a classified intelligence satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office onboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket fired from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. This mission, which took place from the cape’s space launch complex 37, was the third Delta IV heavy launch overall, but the first in support of NRO, ULA said in a release. Last September, Gary Payton, USAF’s point man for space, said the Air Force would not launch a Delta rocket until it was sure that components for the booster had been adequately tested for their ability to withstand the rigors of launch. Payton said the decision came after it was determined that a contractor’s test equipment had not been properly calibrated for vibration testing of some Delta booster parts.

The world of 2016 to 2028 will be fundamentally characterized by “uncertainty, complexity, rapid change, and persistent conflict,” thereby necessitating a change in how the US military operates as a joint force, writes Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint...

Creech AFB, Nev., a major hub of operations for the Air Force’s unmanned aerial vehicle fleet, turned 67 on Jan. 14. The base, located about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas, was first used as a military training camp on...

Here’s something a little different: The Air Force is interested in industry feedback on the feasibility of a ground-launched net system that could bring down ultra-light aircraft or paratrooper systems. According to a Jan. 20 request for information, the Air...

The Air Force Recruiting Service is sponsoring the No. 43 car for a new NASCAR Sprint Cup team that Gillett Evernham Motorsports and famed driver Richard Petty of Petty Holdings are forming for the 2009 racing season. The Air Force...

Jan. 20, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 26 12 38 747 CAS/Armed Recon 41 67 108 1,971 Airlift 150 150 2,492 Air refueling 51 51 944 Total ` 347 6,154 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom...