2019 Deadline to Replace RD-180 Questionable

By Amy McCullough
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the service is committed to finding a replacement for the Russian-made RD-180 engine, which powers United Launch Alliance rockets, although the congressionally mandated 2019 timeline may not be doable. “We’re trying to get...

C-130 Allocation Plan Nearly Complete

By Amy McCullough
The Air Force expects to provide Congress with its C-130 allocation plan in the next month, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee on Wednesday. The Fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill required the...

Technology Makes CAS Platform Agnostic

By Otto Kreisher
A senior Air Force officer noted that the basic elements of an air component commander providing close air support to a ground forces commander, through the “translator” of a controller, have not changed since he started flying A-10s in 1987....

F-15 Pilot: Air Force Cares About CAS

By Otto Kreisher
A veteran F-15E pilot with extensive experience providing close air support in Iraq and Afghanistan protested the often-heard charge that “the Air Force doesn’t care about CAS. I have to tell you, that is so untrue. We care about the...

McHugh: CAS Mission Critical Regardless of Platform

By Marc V. Schanz
The close air support mission is “absolutely critical” to the Army, but the Army and Air Force agree the mission itself is “platform agnostic,” Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. The future of close air...

McHugh: No Army A-10s

By Marc V. Schanz
The Army is not interested in assuming operation of the A-10 fleet if the Air Force succeeds in its divestiture efforts, Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Though he said there is essentially “no chance”...

Rotation Is Great, Permanent Is Better

By Arie Church
Rotating forces to Europe is “no substitute for permanent forward presence in building relationships or signaling our commitment” to NATO allies, US European Command boss Gen. Philip Breedlove said. “The security challenges in and around Europe are only growing sharper...

Crimea Serves as Russian Power Projection Platform

By Marc V. Schanz
Speaking with reporters at the Pentagon following his testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and US European Command boss USAF Gen. Philip Breedlove said Russian military assets have transformed the Crimean peninsula in some “fairly significant ways”...

Bad Faith Negotiations

By Arie Church
US officials were aware while negotiating the New START agreement that Russia may have been simultaneously violating the Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement, a senior Pentagon official testified on Wednesday. “We had concerns that they were in violation; we know now...