F-22 Restart Not So Unthinkable

By John A. Tirpak
Restarting production of the F-22 isn’t “a wild idea,” Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Thursday. Answering questions at an AFA-sponsored, Air Force breakfast, Welsh said the F-22 has proven itself to be “everything everyone hoped it would be,”...

Welsh: USAF Really Short 40-60K People

By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force’s recent moves to up its end strength to 321,000 people is only a crisis Band-Aid. To really fix the service’s manpower shortages, as many as 40,000-60,000 more Active Duty airmen are needed, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark...

Being a Super Power Requires Investment

By Jennifer Hlad
The Air Force has a “path laid out” for the future, and has the money it needs for everything in that plan—except nuclear recapitalization, USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Thursday. “We don’t have the money in our...

Trimming From the Top

By Jennifer Hlad
The Air Force tried to cut 15 three-star billets last year but was only successful in cutting eight, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Thursday morning. “The others were just a bridge too far,” not because of Air Force...

B-52s Picking Up the Pace

By Brian W. Everstine
The B-52s that deployed to fight ISIS earlier this year are still standing up and have not been flying high-tempo operations, though they have been “picking up the pace,” said Air Forces Central Command boss Lt. Gen. Charles Brown during...

Shifting Bombs Around

By Brian W. Everstine
The Air Force is conducting constant analysis to make sure US Central Command has enough weapons to fight ISIS, and that means taking weapons away from other contingencies. Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, commander of Air Forces Central Command, said during...

Charting the Air War Against ISIS

By Brian W. Everstine
The number of aircraft deployed and available for the fight against ISIS has dipped following the rotation of two carriers outside the area of responsibility, but there is still up to 160 aircraft flying daily over Iraq and Syria, the...

The Focus on Fallujah

Coalition airstrikes on the city of Fallujah have increased as Iraqi forces prepare to retake the city held by ISIS extremists since 2014. In the past year or so, coalition aircraft have conducted 38 deliberate strikes on targets in the...

Defense Spending Bill Heads to Senate

By Will Skowronski
The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved its version of the defense spending bill on Thursday, which includes $515.9 billion in base funding and $58.6 billion in war funding. The bill, which now goes to the full Senate, largely mirrors the...

Crew Safe After Super Hornets Collide

By Brian W. Everstine
Two pilots and two weapons systems officers are being treated after two F/A-18F Super Hornets collided off the coast of North Carolina on Thursday morning. The two jets, assigned to NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., collided during a routine...

Trojan Workhorse

Airmen from the 352nd Special Operations Wing at RAF Mildenhall, UK, took part in a joint exercise that brought together special forces from 10 different countries in Eastern Europe from May 3 to May 22. During Trojan Footprint 16, the...