With Arctic sea lanes becoming increasingly navigable to commercial and military traffic alike, US and Canadian cooperation through NORAD is growing in importance, said Canada’s Chief of Air Staff Lt. Gen. André Deschamps. “Awareness of sovereignty in the Arctic is...

The Air Force has dispatched the JSTARS ground-surveillance aircraft to monitor North Korean military moves amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, according to press reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the South Korean request for the aircraft, reports London’s...

The Air Force and its industry partners have successfully launched a series of scientific payloads into space from Kodiak Island, Alaska, aboard a Minotaur IV booster. The rocket carried seven small satellites with 16 total science experiments for the Air...

RAF Lakenheath, Britain, has become the first Air Force installation in Europe to receive the Digital Airport Surveillance Radar, a new radar system for air traffic control. It was also the first to install new air traffic control consoles dubbed...

The 28 NATO members have agreed to develop a defensive shield to protect Europe from ballistic missiles as a core element of their collective defense. Faced with "real and growing" missile proliferation threatening the "Euro-Atlantic area," the allies are committed to the "capability to defend [their] populations and territories," reads the text of the alliance's new strategic concept adopted earlier this month in Lisbon, Portugal. To that end, members will expand NATO’s existing missile defense command, control, and communications capabilities beyond just protecting the alliances' deployed forces. They also will "actively seek cooperation" with Russia, states the document. They also welcomed the US phased adaptive approach as "a valuable national contribution" to the alliance's architecture. The members overcame Turkish objections by avoiding specific mention of the threat posed by Iran, reported The Wall Street Journal. (Strategic concept full text and Lisbon Summit declaration)

Air Force officials are exploring whether they can leverage alternative energy sources to power the Space Fence, the future network of geographically dispersed terrestrial radars that will track space objects and debris. They haven’t yet determined the radars’ ultimate design,...

The Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight at Robins AFB, Ga., works around the world to repair battle-damaged C-5 and C-130 transports and F-15 fighters. Formed in 2009 after the inactivation of Robins’ 653rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron, the flight’s 56 members...

An all-Iraqi aircrew successfully launched a Hellfire surface-attack missile from an AC-208 Cessna Caravan aircraft over the Aziziyah training range, south of Baghdad, destroying the ground target. This test was another important milestone for the fledgling air arm, which is...

The Defense Department last week announced that Lt. Gen. Charles Green, Air Force surgeon general, will be co-chair of the Congressionally mandated Task Force for Care, Management, and Transition of Recovering Wounded, Ill, and Injured Members of the Armed Forces....

TSgt. Heather Henry, noncommissioned officer in charge of Air Mobility Command’s commander’s action group at Scott AFB, Ill., has received the Bronze Star medal for her meritorious service in Afghanistan. During her six-month deployment, Henry, a cyberspace support specialist, was...

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Nov. 18-19, 2010 Sortie Type OND OEF OND/OEF Total YTD ISR 48 143 191 24,788 CAS/Armed Recon 28 190 218 31,728 Airlift 338 338 56,130 Air refueling 103 103 15,708 Rescue 28 28 7,321 Total...