F-35A IOC Slip Confirmed

By John A. Tirpak
It’s unlikely that the Air Force will have its first unit of combat-configured F-35A strike fighters available for use in 2016, Vice Adm. David Venlet, F-35 program executive officer, told reporters Thursday. Discussing the F-35 program’s status during a press...

Armed Predators Over Libya

President Obama has approved the use of armed Predator remotely piloted aircraft in Libya, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Thursday at the Pentagon. Gates said their introduction means “a very limited additional role” for the United States that is...

Second GPS IIF Satellite at Launch Site

The Air Force’s second Global Positioning System Block IIF satellite has arrived at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., for its launch this summer, service officials announced. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is scheduled to carry the Boeing-built timing and...

Gillibrand Wants More C-17s for Stewart

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Thursday urged Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to station an additional eight C-17 transports with the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh, south of Albany. Her proposal would increase the total...

Humble Pie in the Sky

There’s good reason to have confidence that the restructured F-35 strike fighter program will perform as expected, said Vice Adm. David Venlet, F-35 program executive officer, Thursday. “I believe that the ground rules and assumptions of what we can achieve...

The F-35 Box Score

As of Thursday, F-35 test aircraft had accumulated some 727 flights, with nearly 1,100 total flight hours, according to Vice Adm. David Venlet, who oversees the stealth aircraft’s maturation. Venlet gave the breakdown as: 295 flights and 520 hours on...

Airmen Continue Aerial Firefight

Under the direction of US Northern Command, six specially equipped Air Force C-130s remain heavily engaged in fighting wildfires in Texas and Mexico’s Coahuila state. Two Air Force Reserve Command C-130s from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo.,...

On-Orbit Interpreters

The Air Force’s ability to link two different frequency bands using its Wideband Global Satellite Communications constellation is making a big difference in Japan’s post-earthquake and –tsunami recovery efforts. The WGS satellites are making X-band communications possible within Japan so...

Fixing Acquisition

By John A. Tirpak
The Defense Department still plans to hire thousands of additional acquisition personnel to improve its oversight of weapons projects, said Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s No. 2 acquisition executive. It’ll take a while, though, until everybody is in place and has...

Altus Opens New Radar Facility

Officials at Altus AFB, Okla., this week opened the base’s new Radar Approach Control facility. It replaces a 50-year-old building that the base’s air traffic controllers had used. The RAPCON is home to the new Digital Airport Surveillance Radar, which...

NTSB Investigates Aborted Landing at Andrews

The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into this week’s aborted landing of First Lady Michelle Obama’s aircraft at JB Andrews, Md. The board will explore whether federal air traffic controllers were at fault in allowing the Air...