President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday signed a document in Moscow that sets the parameters for reductions in the two nations’ nuclear force levels by up to one-third beyond the current ceilings laid down in the 1991 START...

In addition to yesterday’s joint statement that established the new ceilings for nuclear force levels (see above), the US and Russia were busy issuing other documents to plot the path for renewing bilateral operations. Under a military transit agreement, Russia...

Members of a selection board at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph AFB, Tex., have identified the service’s 12 Outstanding Airmen for 2009 from a slate of 33 nominees. They are: SMSgt. Mary Bechdel, RAF Molesworth, England SMSgt. Jeffery...

The 451st Air Expeditionary Group at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, officially became the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing on July 2 during a ceremony led by Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander of Air Forces Central. Brig, Gen, Guy Walsh is the...

The Air Force has launched a new construction project that will bring a 74,000 sq. ft. training complex by the fall of 2010 to the Inter-American Air Forces Academy at Lackland AFB, Tex. The San Antonio Business Journal reported yesterday...

Lockheed Martin announced yesterday that it has received a $23 million contract to supply the Air Force with 12 extended-range JASSM cruise missiles for use in upcoming flight tests. Six of the missiles will be used to complete JASSM-ER’s developmental test flight program, while the remaining six will be flown in operational tests, the company said. A B-1B bomber will fire the missiles in these tests against a series of tactical targets, according to Lockheed. “These tests will demonstrate the maturity of the JASSM-ER design” and support a decision on whether to move this JASSM variant into low-rate production, said Alan Jackson, Lockheed’s JASSM and JASSM-ER program director. JASSM-ER has about two-and-a-half times the range of the baseline JASSM missile, which reportedly has a reach of about 200 nautical miles. Lockheed says JASSM-ER has a 100 percent success rate in its four developmental flight tests to date. However, as we reported last week, Bloomberg news wire service confirmed with USAF that the service had put the JASSM program on notice that future buys of the baseline missile would be derailed if reliability issues with it are not overcome.

Members of the Air Force Reserve Command’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, recently deployed from Keesler AFB, Miss., to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands to train for the 2009 hurricane season, which runs through October. These airmen, “the Hurricane...

The Air Force announced yesterday that an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in southern Afghanistan on July 4. The crash was not due to hostile fire. The service said a board will be convened to investigate the incident. Based...

Northrop Grumman said in a release July 3 it successfully demonstrated electronic protection capabilities of the AN/APG-81 advanced electronically scanned array radar system during the recent Northern Edge joint military exercise. The radar, which the company is building for the...

June 1-3, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 72 65 137 7,561 CAS/Armed Recon 41 168 209 17,670 Airlift 370 370 25,031 Air refueling 135 135 8,356 Total 851 58,618 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...