US Offers NATO Quick-Reaction Enablers

By Arie Church
The US military will provide “many enabling capabilities” for the NATO Response Force’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, revealed Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Monday. “Our support will include [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance], strategic and inter-theater lift, command and...

Confident Airbus Touts A400M

By Marc V. Schanz
Airbus’ A400M military airlifter came out of the Paris Air Show with a head of steam, attracting prospective customers and putting on an acrobatic flying display roughly a month after a fatal A400M crash in Seville, Spain, grounded the fleet....

Airbus Eyes Opening For A400M in US Market

By Marc V. Schanz
William LaPlante, the Air Force’s acquisition executive, did not slam the door on the potential entry of the Airbus A400M airlifter into the US market. “In general, when we talk with Airbus, we think, the more the merrier… in terms...

New York Air Guard Commander Retires

?Maj. Gen. Verle Johnston stepped down as commander of the New York Air National Guard and retired after 41 years in uniform, reported the Times Union of Albany. Johnson, a 1974 Air Force Academy graduate, had led the 5,900-member New...

Predator Down

An MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft crashed in southeastern Iraq on Monday during a combat air patrol, announced Air Forces Central Command. The incident was “not due to enemy fire” states AFCENT’s release. Controllers lost “positive control” of the RPA...

Groundbreaking for Intelligence Center Expansion

Officials at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, broke ground on the new building that will support the National Air and Space Intelligence Center’s foreign material exploitation mission, reported the Fairborn Daily Herald. Construction of the 58,000-square-foot building will take two to three...

F-16s Unleashed

By Arie Church
Three F-16 squadrons conducted a simulated wartime surge operation at Kunsan AB, South Korea, launching a combined 350 sorties in four days, announced base officials. Along with F-16s from the resident 35th Fighter Squadron and 80th FS, aircraft deployed from...

Fourth C-130 for Afghan Air Force

The Afghan air force took delivery of its fourth—and last planned—C-130H transport from prior US inventory, according to a release. The airplane arrived on June 20 at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after a weeklong trip from Little Rock...

Hoeven Makes Grand Pitch

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) met with Adm. Bill Gortney, US Northern Command boss, to make the case for using Grand Forks Air Force Base to support US military operations in the Arctic, announced the senator’s office. NORTHCOM oversees those activities....