U.S. Air Force(Page 3)

Latest in U.S. Air Force

Anduril and General Atomics have shared new details about progress and challenges, including on production and autonomy issues, as part of the Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

Construction Of First Collaborative Combat Aircraft Drone Has Begun At General Atomics

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jul 1, 2024
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle from Royal Air Force Lakenheath's 494th Fighter Squadron returns to formation after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker from the Fairchild Air Force Base's 92nd Aerial Refueling Squadron, over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 2, 2024. The U.S. Air Force is globally postured to protect and defend freedom of coalition allies and regional partners within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to maintain peace and stability across the region.

Flying The F-15E Strike Eagle In Air-To-Air Combat, From Dogfighting To Drone Hunting

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on Jul 1, 2024
The US Air Force's Air Mobility Command has outlined a critical need to give its fleets new counter-drone defenses they can use wherever they go.

Built-In Counter-Drone Defenses Sought For Air Force Transports, Tankers

By Eric Tegler, Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 29, 2024
A USAF F-15EX Eagle II armed with 12 AIM-120 AMRAAMs.

F-15EX Testers Are Now Preparing The Eagle II For Rapidly Adapting To New Missions

By Jamie Hunter
Posted on Jun 25, 2024
A new report from the Government Accountability Office raises questions and concerns about the Air Force's push to retire 32 Block 20 F-22 Raptors.

Ditching Older F-22s Risks Creating Capability Gaps, New Costs

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 19, 2024
F-15EX has been put through its paces by testers in Eglin AFB to prepare it for service.

How USAF Testers Are Working To Field The F-15EX Fast

By Jamie Hunter
Posted on Jun 18, 2024
Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornets will be used to launch prototypes of the US Air Force's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile.

Australian F/A-18F Super Hornets To Test Launch U.S. Air Force’s Hypersonic Cruise Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 18, 2024
USAF B-52 in flight

B-52s With New Rolls Royce Engines Won’t Fly Operational Missions Until 2033

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Jun 18, 2024
B-52 Future Stratofortress: The Upgrades That Will Transform The B-52H Into The B-52J

B-52 Future Stratofortress: The Upgrades That Will Transform The B-52H Into The B-52J

By Tyler Rogoway
Updated on Jun 14, 2024
F-15EX arrives at the 142nd Wing in Portland.

Inside The First F-15EX Wing Commander’s Plans To Speed The Newest Eagle Into Service

By Tyler Rogoway
Updated on Jun 14, 2024
Anduril’s Fury

Top Air Force Officer Doubles Down On Aerial Combat Drones With Short Life Spans

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Jun 14, 2024
Congress is moving to block the Air Force from retiring or preparing to retire any U-2 spy planes in the next fiscal year.

U-2 Retirement Reprieve Emerges In Proposed Defense Spending Bill

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 4, 2024
A USAF Boeing F-15EX flies at low level in Nevada.

How 50 Years Of Eagle Experience Has Shaped The Advanced F-15

By Jamie Hunter
Posted on Jun 4, 2024
The Defense Innovation Unit and the US Air Force have picked four different companies design, build, and flight test new low-cost cruise missile concepts.

‘Cheap’ Long-Range Cruise Missile Designs To Be Tested By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 3, 2024
The US Air Force has awarded its first contract for the purchase of production Joint Strike Missiles which are set to give its F-35A Joint Strike Fighters a new and capable stand-off strike option against targets on land and at sea.

USAF F-35s Are Officially Getting Joint Strike Cruise Missiles That Fit In Their Bays

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 1, 2024
Testing at the Upside-Down Air Force, RADC

The Fascinating Story Of The USAF’s “Upside-Down Air Force”

By Oliver Parken
Posted on May 31, 2024
A U.S. B-2A Spirit bomber assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing and a Royal Netherlands air force F-35A conduct aerial operations in support of Bomber Task Force Europe 20-2 over the North Sea March 18, 2020. Bomber missions provide opportunities to train and work with NATO allies and theater partners in combined and joint operations and exercises.

Dutch F-35s Take On A Full Nuclear Role

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on May 31, 2024
Officials at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina are looking into the possibility of erecting physical barriers to protect F-15E Strike Eagles there from drones.

Enclosures To Defend F-15Es From Drone Attacks Eyed At Seymour Johnson AFB

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 30, 2024
Experimental Alpha Draco hypersonic boost-glide vehicle preparing for launch, 1959.

Alpha Draco Paved The Way In The Late 1950s For Future Hypersonic Boost-Glide Vehicles

By Oliver Parken
Posted on May 29, 2024
An F-35 Joint Strike Fighter crashed in Albuquerque New Mexico.

F-35 Crashes In New Mexico (Updated)

By Howard Altman
Posted on May 28, 2024
How the A-10's Avenger cannon went from terrible to terrifying.

How The A-10’s Avenger Cannon Went From Terrible To Terrifying

By Tyler Rogoway
Updated on May 28, 2024
Black Flag 24-1, out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, run by the Air Force’s 53rd Wing.

Massive China-Focused Black Flag Test Exercise Flies Deep Into The Virtual Realm

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on May 28, 2024
B-2/B-21 comparison

B-21, B-2 Comparison Image Shows Just How Weird The Raider’s Windows Really Are

By Tyler Rogoway
Posted on May 23, 2024
Everything We Learned About The Next Doomsday Planes For The Air Force

Everything We Learned About The Next Doomsday Planes For The Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 23, 2024
B-21 raider first air-to-air image

First Aerial View Of B-21 Raider Offers New Insights

By Tyler Rogoway
Posted on May 22, 2024
The quiet closing out of the Air Force's SHiELD program and issues the Army has been having with is laser-armed DE M-SHORAD variants of the 8x8 Stryker reflect broader hurdles facing directed energy weapons of this type.

U.S. Military Laser Weapon Programs Are Facing A Reality Check

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 21, 2024
The Viper Demo team has painted their jet in the YF-16's scheme to commemorate the type's 50th anniversary.

Viper Demo Team Secretly Painted Jet In YF-16 Scheme To Celebrate Type’s 50th Anniversary

By Tyler Rogoway
Posted on May 15, 2024
Members of Congress are pushing to block the US Air Force from retiring more than half of its F-15E Strike Eagles.

Move To Block F-15E Strike Eagle Cuts Being Made In Congress

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 14, 2024
T-6 ejection seat mishap

T-6 Pilot Dies In Ejection Seat Accident

By Oliver Parken
Posted on May 14, 2024
Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works has released a new rendering of a stealth tanker concept amid uncertainty about the U.S. Air Force's future tanker plans.

New Skunk Works Stealthy Tanker Concept Unveiled

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 13, 2024
A B-2 Spirit taxis at Whiteman Air Force Base

Damaged B-2 Won’t Be Repaired, Fleet To Shrink To 19 Jets (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 10, 2024
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), which won the contract to build the U.S. Air Force’s highly specialized Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) aircraft last month, has acquired five Boeing 747-8s from Korean Air. The likelihood is that these will be converted as the successors to the Air Force’s aging 747-200-based E-4B Nightwatch ‘doomsday planes,’ although at this stage we still don’t know how many of the new SAOC aircraft will be fielded.

Former Korean Air 747s Slated To Become USAF Doomsday Planes (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on May 9, 2024
STRAIT OF SAN JUAN DE FUCA, Wash. (May 6, 2024) The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) transits the Strait of San Juan de Fuca escorted by U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and U.S. Coast Guard screening escort vessels. Joint operations, such as this one which involved the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy, ensure the U.S. military is ready to meet its security commitments at home and abroad including commitments to our allies and partners. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gwendelyn Ohrazda/Released)

A-10 Warthogs Escorting A Ballistic Missile Submarine Is Certainly Different

By Oliver Parken
Posted on May 9, 2024
Unmanned Long-Endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft crew chiefs, assigned within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, prep an ULTRA aircraft for taxi across the flightline before an early morning takeoff at an undisclosed location, May 7, 2024. ULTRA is an unmanned aerial system capable of flight times up to 80 hours, providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to combatant commanders, with a smaller operational footprint than other UAS in its class.

Air Force’s ULTRA Long-Endurance Glider-Like Drone Is Now Operating In The Middle East

By Joseph Trevithick, Thomas Newdick
Posted on May 8, 2024
The Air Force new 5,000-pound-class GBU-72/B bunker buster bomb could be a future addition to the B-2 bomber's arsenal.

B-2 Spirits Could Get New 5,000-Pound Bunker Busters

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 7, 2024
A US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter has suffered a mishap at an airport in Georgia today, May 6, 2024.

F-22 Raptor Ends Up On Its Side During Air Guard Exercise (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 6, 2024
JDAM-ER Winged Bombs With Seekers That Home In On GPS Jammers Headed To Ukraine

JDAM-ER Winged Bombs With Seekers That Home In On GPS Jammers Headed To Ukraine

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on May 4, 2024
A 49th Wing F-16 Viper takes off Jan. 19, 2022, at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Holloman is the Air Force’s premiere training base for F-16 Viper and MQ-9 Reaper aircrew. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Adrian Salazar)

F-16 Crashes Near Holloman Air Force Base In New Mexico (Updated)

By Oliver Parken
Posted on Apr 30, 2024
SAOC will replace the E-4B, now we have a better idea of what it will look like.

E-4B Doomsday Plane Replacement Concept Art Has Some Interesting Features

By Tyler Rogoway
Posted on Apr 29, 2024
SNC has won the competition to deliver new Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) 'doomsday planes' to succeed the Air Force's E-4B Nightwatch jets.

Job Of Building The Air Force’s Next Doomsday Planes Falls To Sierra Nevada Corp. (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Apr 28, 2024
General Atomics has now confirmed that its Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone design for the US Air Force is based on its XQ-67A.

XQ-67 Confirmed To Be A Prototype For General Atomics’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft Design

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Apr 26, 2024
Eglin UFO Case

Eglin AFB Pilot Likely Saw A Lighting Balloon, Not A UFO Pentagon Concludes

By Howard Altman
Posted on Apr 25, 2024
The US Air Force has chosen Anduril and General Atomics to move ahead in Increment 1 of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone program.

General Atomics, Anduril Move Ahead In Collaborative Combat Aircraft Drone Program (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Apr 24, 2024
Additional details about a breakthrough autonomous dogfight in September 2023 underscore significant challenges still to be addressed.

Next Big Challenge For AI Dogfighting Is Keeping Track Of Enemies Up Close

By Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway
Posted on Apr 24, 2024
B-2 Spirit stealth bombers assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing taxi on the runway at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, April 15, 2024. Team Whiteman executed a mass fly-off of 12 B-2s to cap off the annual Spirit Vigilance exercise. Routine training ensures that Airmen are always ready to execute global strike operations… anytime, anywhere. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Hailey Farrell)

Majority Of The B-2 Spirit Fleet Took To The Skies In A Mass Launch

By Oliver Parken
Posted on Apr 18, 2024
B-21 raider production still capped at 100 units as USAF looks at what could come next.

Air Force Looking At Options Beyond The B-21 Raider Is Absolutely Necessary

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Apr 18, 2024
F-15EX

F-15E Strike Eagle’s Defense Of Israel Bolsters The Case For F-15EX

By Tyler Rogoway
Posted on Apr 17, 2024
The US Air Force's unique X-62A test jet participating in a breakthrough dogfight last year while a fully autonomous mode against a crewed F-16.

AI Is Now Dogfighting With Fighter Pilots In The Air

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Apr 17, 2024
Recently released pictures of a Bahraini Block 70 F-16D Viper undergoing testing in the United States show what one of these jets might look like one an actual combat mission.

Our First Look At An Armed-Up Block 70 F-16 Viper

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Apr 12, 2024
Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new hypersonic missile, the Mako, which it is pitching to the U.S. Navy and Air Force and which it says will potentially also be able to arm submarines and surface warships. The weapon, which was originally developed for the Air Force’s Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) program reflects growing interest in more affordable hypersonic strike weapons, smaller than cruise missiles but offering standoff range and very rapid response.

The Lowdown On Lockheed’s Newly Revealed Mako Hypersonic Missile

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on Apr 11, 2024
B-1B Lancer aircraft nicknamed “Lancelot,” touches down at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Feb. 8, 2024. “Lancelot” is being regenerated to the active bomber fleet after previously being retired to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Photo was redacted for security purposes.

B-1B ‘Lancelot’ Is Being Resurrected For Active Service

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on Apr 8, 2024
F-16s from Eielson AFB now 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

F-16 Aggressor Squadron In Alaska Becomes Unique Air Defense Unit

By Tyler Rogoway
Posted on Apr 4, 2024
The USAF wants $1.5B in spare parts it doesn't have in its budget.

Hundreds Of Air Force Aircraft Risk Grounding Without Extra $1.5B Spare Parts Infusion

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Mar 28, 2024
U.S. Air Force TU-2s Dragon Lady 1078 flies to U.S. Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it will undergo normal Program Depot-level Maintenance (PDM) and be painted black, after almost three years of maintenance at Beale Air Force Base, California, Feb. 29, 2024. Aircraft 1078 was involved in an accident in 2021 that left it unable to move to Plant 42, and after passing low flight and high flight tests, was able to fly to Palmdale where Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Detachment 4 will oversee Lockheed Martin’s PDM of aircraft 1078. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexis Pentzer

TU-2S Dragon Lady Resurrected For The Twilight Of The Spy Plane’s Service

By Oliver Parken
Posted on Mar 25, 2024
Supersonic testbed XB-1 on its first flight, March 22, 2024

Boom’s XB-1 Supersonic Test Jet Takes To The Skies

By Oliver Parken
Posted on Mar 23, 2024
F-22 with stealthy wing tanks and pods.

F-22 Spotted With New Stealth Wing Tanks, Infrared Sensor Pods

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Mar 22, 2024
The F-35 Joint Program Office says the internal gun on the A variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is now effective after years of accuracy and other problems.

F-35A’s Beleaguered 25mm Cannon Is Finally “Effective”

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Mar 22, 2024
A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II sits on the flightline at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., March 3, 2023. The A-10 is assigned to the A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team, which is one of four single-ship demonstration teams within Air Combat Command, who travel across the United States, as well as internationally, to highlight the combat capabilities of the A-10 and the U.S. Air Force.

A-10 Demo Team Announces Its Final Year As The Warthog’s End Draws Near

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on Mar 21, 2024
Satellite image of the air base at Mihail Kogălniceanu, pictured on December 18, 2023

Romanian Airfield’s Transformation Into A Giant NATO Base Is Underway

By Oliver Parken
Posted on Mar 20, 2024
The Air Force has conducted an unprecedented test launch of a live AGM-183A ARRW hypersonic missile in the Western Pacific, sending signals to China and elsewhere in the region amid uncertainty about this particular program's future.

Unprecedented U.S. Hypersonic Weapons Test From Guam Has Occurred

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Mar 19, 2024
The US Air Force no longer plans to flight test a laser directed energy weapon on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship.

AC-130 Gunship’s Laser Weapon Cancelled, 105mm Howitzer May Be Removed

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Mar 19, 2024
The US Air Force has confirmed a spate of drone incursions occurred at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in December 2023.

Mysterious Drones Swarmed Langley AFB For Weeks

By Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway
Posted on Mar 15, 2024
The Air Force wants to cut its purchases of MH-139A helicopters in half, calling into question what will happen to many units equipped with the UH-1Ns they were supposed to replace.

Air Force Wants To Slash MH-139 Grey Wolf Helicopter Purchases In Half

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Mar 14, 2024
F-35Bs are armed on a flight line

F-35 Cleared For Full-Rate Production 17 Years After Its First Flight

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on Mar 13, 2024