X-37B Comes Home

OTV-2, the Air Force’s second unmanned X-37B reusable spaceplane, successfully returned to Earth on June 16 after 469 days in orbit. The orbital test vehicle landed at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., at 5:48 a.m. West Coast time, said Vandenberg officials in...

CV-22 Crashes, Aircrew Injured

An Air Force CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed during a routine training mission on the evening of June 13 at the Eglin Range, north of Navarre, Fla., announced Air Force Special Operations Command officials. The aircraft’s five aircrew members were...

Not a Bonus Boeing

By John A. Tirpak
Boeing has amended the comments of its KC-46 program manager that the 767-2C—a redesigned 767-200ER that will form the basis of the Air Force’s new KC-46A tanker—would be offered as a civil aircraft. Maureen Dougherty “shouldn’t have given the impression...

Levin: Sequestration Not Likely

By Amy McCullough
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said June 14 he doesn’t think Congress will allow sequestration to take effect; however, the bigger question is not whether such “draconian” cuts can be avoided, but how long legislators will...

Difficult Decisions

By Amy McCullough
The decision to freeze all cuts to the Air National Guard in Fiscal 2013 may make life more difficult for Congress in Fiscal 2014, but that’s no reason to go along with the Air Force’s proposed force structure plan, said...

With or Without Pakistan

By Amy McCullough
It is costing the Defense Department an additional $100 million a month to drawdown troops in Afghanistan and resupply those still on the ground there since Pakistan closed its over-land supply routes last year. Still, that’s no reason to give...

Key Player in Air Force Nuclear Revitalization Retires

Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, 20th Air Force commander, will hand off his command in a ceremony at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., on June 22 and will retire from the Air Force, effective Sept. 1, after more than 34 years of...

Reserve Tanker Training Squadron Stands Up at Altus

Air Force officials activated Air Force Reserve Command’s 730th Air Mobility Training Squadron at Altus AFB, Okla. The unit, which stood up on June 13, will train Active Duty, Air National Guard, Reserve, and foreign aircrews to fly C-17 transports...

Vulnerability, Stability, and Stupidity

In its fervor to eliminate nuclear weapons, the Obama Administration “is taking us back to the era of vulnerability” by sacrificing effective missile defenses of the US homeland in exchange for consensus with Moscow, said former State Department arms control...

Stealthy Road Home

The fourth full-scale development YF-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft returned home to Edwards AFB, Calif., for restoration and eventual display at the Flight Test Center Museum’s future indoor facility, announced Edwards officials. This aircraft, serial number 79-10783, has spent the...

Welcome Triton

Northrop Grumman unveiled the Navy’s first MQ-4C Triton remotely piloted aircraft in a June 14 ceremony at the company’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. The rollout of this test article coincided with the Navy’s release of the name. Triton is...