Airmen Killed in KC-135 Crash Identified

Three airmen from the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron at Fairchild AFB, Wash., lost their lives in the May 3 crash of a KC-135 tanker near Chon-Aryk, Kyrgyzstan, announced the Defense Department on Sunday. Killed were: Capt. Victoria A. Pinckney, 27,...

KC-135 Crashes in Northern Kyrgyzstan

An Air Force KC-135 tanker crashed on Friday in northern Kyrgyzstan, announced officials with the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at the Transit Center at Manas near Bishkek in the Central Asian nation. The status of the three crewmembers is unknown,...

Taepo Dong 2 Threat to the Homeland

North Korea remains a threat to US national security and to stability in Northeast Asia through activities like its “pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles,” the Defense Department told Congress on Thursday in its annual report on the...

Aircraft Mishaps Now Top Cause of US Deaths in Afghanistan

As combat operations wind down in Afghanistan, aircraft accidents have become the main cause of combat-related deaths among US military personnel there, reported McClatchy. Of the 33 US lives lost since the start of the year, 13 have been in...

Second Iraqi F-16 Batch Ordered

Lockheed Martin received $830 million for the second batch of 18 new-build F-16 C/D fighters and associated equipment that the United States is providing to Iraq, announced the Defense Department. This foreign military sales transaction, included in the Pentagon’s April...

US, Japan Boost Training

A new training set-up between the Air Force and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is allowing F-16s of the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa AB, Japan, to regularly practice suppression of enemy air defense missions in a robust simulated combat environment,...

Third Air Force Vice Commander Visits Niger

Maj. Gen. Carlton Everhart, 3rd Air Force vice commander, met with senior Nigerien military officials during a visit to Base Aérienne 101 in Niamey, Niger, according to officials from US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa. Everhart discussed cooperation strategies,...

F-22 Completes One-Thousandth Sortie

The Air Force’s oldest flying F-22 Raptor, tail number 4007, completed its 1,000th sortie, announced Combined Test Force officials at Edwards AFB, Calif., where the airplane serves as a test asset. The airplane, dubbed the “James Bond jet” due to...

Joint Force Simulates Airfield Seizure

Members of the 77th Weapons Squadron at Dyess AFB, Tex., brought together various aircraft and joint terminal attack controllers for a first-of-its-kind exercise at Winston Field in Snyder, Tex., announced Dyess officials. B-1Bs and C-130s from Dyess, F/A-18s from NAS...