More Authority Coming Back to USAF

By John A. Tirpak
When the tanker, several space programs, and other projects were either incurring Nunn-McCurdy breaches or resulting in successful award protests, the Air Force had quite a lot of acquisition authority taken away and held at higher levels of the Pentagon....

Protest-Proofing the LRS-B

By John A. Tirpak
The only way to prevent a successful protest of the Long-Range Strike Bomber contract award is to execute it exactly as planned, Air Force acquisition chief William LaPlante told Air Force Magazine. LaPlante said the lesson learned from the KC-X...

Verdict, Controlled Flight Into Terrain

By Arie Church
The F-16 pilot killed during an Operation Inherent Resolve sortie last December violated the safe minimum altitude for landing approach, was briefly disoriented, and flew into the ground, according to Air Combat Command. The investigation board president determined “by clear...

DOD Closer to Lifting Transgender Ban

By Amy McCullough
The Defense Department on Monday moved one step closer to allowing transgendered troops to serve openly. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Acting Unders?ecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Brad Carson will lead a working group tasked with studying the...

Ghostrider Ops Testers Stand-Up

By Arie Church
The AC-130J Ghostrider’s operational test unit—Det. 2 of the 1st Special Operations Group—was activated in a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla., last week, officials announced. “Our mission is crystal clear: Get it right. That way, whoever follows behind me can...

Bringing New Ops to Europe

By Marc V. Schanz
One of the benefits of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa now supervising theater security packages is raising readiness in mission areas where forces would otherwise have to find opportunities back in the US, command officials told Air Force...

Two Way Interoperability Lessons

By Marc V. Schanz
Airmen deployed to Europe are getting a great deal of exposure to the equipment, tactics, and infrastructure of some of NATO’s newest allies in the East. “They train a bit differently, and that’s why it’s important for us to go...

Aussies Drop Naval F-35 Concept

The Royal Australian Navy shelved the idea of purchasing F-35B Lightning IIs for operations aboard its new amphibious assault ships, reported Australia’s Financial Review. The Royal Australian Air Force upped its planned buy of F-35As to 72 aircraft last year,...