Forward Deployed PJs

By Brian W. Everstine
The US has prepositioned combat search and rescue assets in Turkey, Iraq, and Kuwait to be able to quickly respond to potentially dangerous missions into ISIS-held territory, including keeping pararescuemen airborne for certain missions, the Air Force general in charge...

GAO: Missile Shield Still Has Much to Prove

By Arie Church
Ballistic missile defenses to defend the continental United States are being fielded before they’ve been fully developed or proven operationally effective, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptors are “capable of defending the US homeland...

Relying on the Raptors

By Brian W. Everstine
The US continues to send F-22 Raptors in on strike packages throughout Iraq and Syria, Air Forces Central Command boss Lt. Gen. Charles Brown said on Thursday. The fifth generation aircraft has constantly been deployed to support Operation Inherent Resolve...

The Eyes of March

By John A. Tirpak
More information about the highly classified Long-Range Strike Bomber—specifically, the composition of the Northrop Grumman development and production team—should be released next month, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and requirements Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes said Thursday. Taking...

BUFF Radar

By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force has laid in money in the Fiscal 2017 budget to start replacing the B-52’s radar, service plans and requirements chief Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes said Thursday. “If we’re going to keep the B-52 around” until the 2040s,...

Informing Russia to Protect US Commandos

By Brian W. Everstine
The US informed Russia of the “geographic region” where special operations forces are deployed in Syria as a request to avoid any air strikes around the region, telling the country more detail than it’s publicly announced about the presence of...

Air Dominance 2030, or Sooner?

By John A. Tirpak
March will also see some public discussion of the results of the Air Force and Pentagon’s Air Dominance 2030 study, USAF plans and requirements chief Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes said Thursday. “We’ll do some public release after it’s briefed out...

Another Pegasus First

The KC-46A was refueled for the first time by a KC-10 flying over Washington State, as part of the aircraft’s Milestone C process, according to Boeing. The capability “increases the aircraft’s operational flexibility,” the company posted on Twitter. The Feb....

Montenegro Moves to Join NATO

By Arie Church
The state of Montenegro began final negotiations with NATO earlier this week to become the Alliance’s 29th member state, officials announced. “Holding of the accession talks today is a mark of the progress made by Montenegro since regaining its independence”...

A Sunny Outlook

By Jennifer Hlad
The Air Force on Feb. 16 unveiled a new system to convert sunlight into electrical energy at Nellis AFB, Nev., giving the installation the largest solar park in the Department of Defense. The new system, Solar Array II, combined with...