F-35 Partners Get Equal Stealth

By John A. Tirpak
Le Bourget, France—International partners on the F-35 will enjoy a stealth capability on the fighter equal to that of the US versions, according to F-35 program office officials. Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, deputy director of the F-35 program office, gave...

Yes, But

The nation’s top military officer and the senior US general in Afghanistan endorsed President Obama’s plan for withdrawing thousands of American troops from Afghanistan starting in July. But both also candidly called the President’s plan “more aggressive” in scope than...

ORS-1 Launch Date Set

The first Operationally Responsive Space satellite, ORS-1, is scheduled to launch next week—June 28 to be exact—aboard a Minotaur I rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s eastern shore. It took just 32 months, from design to development, to...

Illinois Lawmakers Want Springfield to Fly Again

A group of Illinois Congressmen is urging Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to identify a new flying mission for the Illinois Air National Guard’s 183th Fighter Wing in Springfield. These lawmakers also asked Donley to extend the wing’s firefighting mission...

B-52H—True Sons of “Big Belly”

By Arie Church
The Air Force is currently upgrading the B-52’s internal weapons bay interface capability to add eight smart weapons, thus increasing the aircraft’s precision-guided munitions payload by roughly two-thirds, according to Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike...

Basing Criteria Issued for MQ-1/9 Ground Stations

The Air Force released the basing criteria for the ground stations that it intends to establish at three installations to control MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft. These bases will be the final locations where the Air Force...

New Rail System Helps Fuel Kunsan Mission

After 14 years of planning, preparation, and refurbishment, the first train carrying aviation fuel entered Kunsan AB, South Korea, this week, marking the start of a new means of supplying jet fuel to the base. “The updated rail system will...

Don’t Blame Export Restrictions This Time

By John A. Tirpak
Le Bourget, France—Whatever India’s reasons for dropping advanced F-16s and F/A-18s from its fighter competition, it would be wrong to point the finger at US government export controls, said Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft here. “At no point...

T-X Status

By John A. Tirpak
Le Bourget, France—Although Boeing has partnered successfully with BAE Systems on building the T-45 Goshawk jet trainer for the Navy, it is “keeping its options open” about how it will approach the Air Force’s T-X trainer aircraft competition, said Boeing...

V-22 Exports

By John A. Tirpak
Le Bourget, France—After nearly 30 years of development and production, the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft might soon be available for export, said Boeing Military Aircraft President Chris Chadwick. Speaking to reporters here Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, Chadwick said Boeing...

Unbelievably Strategic

By John A. Tirpak
Le Bourget, France—The Pentagon’s decision to add more than 40 additional F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to the Navy’s fleet and sign another multiyear buy is “an unbelievably strategic and positive event” for Boeing, said Chris Chadwick, the company’s Military Aircraft president....

Euro Hawk Update

By John A. Tirpak
Le Bourget, France—The first Euro Hawk variant of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, built for Germany, will be ferried to Europe in the next few weeks, said company officials here at the Paris Air Show. The aircraft has been...