Up and CHIRP-ing

The Air Force’s first payload hosted aboard a commercial satellite successfully reached space from a launch pad at Kourou, French Guiana. Mounted on the SES-2 communications satellite, the Air Force’s experimental Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload, or CHIRP, blasted off for...

F-16 Retrofit for Taiwan

The Pentagon notified Congress of a possible $5.3 billion foreign military sale to Taiwan to upgrade 145 Taiwanese F-16A/B fighters. The Obama Administration did not go as far as approving Taiwan’s request for 66 new-build F-16C/Ds as some lawmakers like...

Cockpit Warning

By Arie Church
Air Force Global Strike Command has cut flying hours as low as it can without risking the readiness of the US long-range bomber force, said Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, the organization’s boss. “Since 2004, we’ve taken about a one-third cut...

Maintain the Tech Edge

By Marc V. Schanz
As the Chinese military builds its capacity and capability with large investments, the United States should take care to preserve its technological edge, said Gen. Gary North, Pacific Air Forces commander. “I think we’re a bit naïve looking at them...

NATO Extends Operation Unified Protector

NATO will extend operations in Libya for up to three more months, although the alliance has the option of ending Operation Unified Protector before that time if the situation on the ground stabilizes, announced NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen....

An Airman’s Empathy

By Marc V. Schanz
Many of the same issues currently confronting the US Air Force also are at play with the Taiwanese as they seek to modernize their aging F-16 fleet, said Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Gary North. “We have a 24-year-old average...

A Cost-Effective, Professional Force

The Air National Guard is a highly professional and cost-effective force, attributes that are exceedingly important as the United States grapples with meeting national security demands while reducing a staggering national debt, said Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, ANG director. “Based...

The European Model

By Michael C. Sirak
Maintaining a nuclear presence in Europe is essential for the NATO alliance, said Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “Our posture in Europe is critical to coherence of the alliance [and] is a tangible...

Concurrent Family Travel to Minot Stopped

Minot AFB, N.D., is now a non-concurrent travel area for airmen’s families as a result of a housing shortage in the Minot community made worse when the Souris River flooded in June. Under the new order, airmen who received authorization...

Afghan Air Force’s First Fixed-Wing Trainers

Three of the six Cessna 182Ts that the Afghan air force will use for undergraduate pilot training recently arrived at Shindand Air Base in western Afghanistan. With the first cadre of AAF pilots selected in 2009 still undergoing UPT in...