U.S. Air Force (Page 4)

Latest in U.S. Air Force

Significant parts of the veil of secrecy over the origins of Boeing's F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter, and the decisions and tradeoffs made along the way, have now been pulled back.
U.S. Air Force

Major F-47 Revelations Were Just Dropped By Former Air Force Secretary

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 28, 2025

X-36 was an early progenitor that lead to the F-47.
U.S. Air Force

Reflections Of The F-47: Looking Back At The X-36

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 27, 2025

The U.S. Air Force office responsible for the B-52 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) is asking for new information about options for derivatives of off-the-shelf multi-mode radars that could go into the bombers.
U.S. Air Force

B-52 Radar Upgrade Alternatives Info Sought By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 26, 2025

A significant force of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers looks to be currently wending its way to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
U.S. Air Force

Signs U.S. Massing B-2 Spirit Bombers In Diego Garcia (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

Posted on Mar 25, 2025

The U.S. Air Force's selection of Boeing's F-47 as the winner of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) combat jet competition raises new questions about plans for new stealthy aerial refueling tankers.
U.S. Air Force

F-47 Fighter Reveal Draws New Attention To USAF Stealth Tanker Plans

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 24, 2025

The puzzling canards on the F-47 could be an indicator of what the aircraft's design goals are.
U.S. Air Force

What The F-47’s Canards Say About The Rest Of Its Design

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Mar 24, 2025

F-47 X-plane demonstrators
U.S. Air Force

F-47 Was Born Out Of Secret X-Planes Built By Both Boeing And Lockheed

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Mar 23, 2025

F-47 NGAD from Boeing.
U.S. Air Force

Boeing Wins F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Contract (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Mar 22, 2025

F-35 Hill AFB
U.S. Air Force

F-35s From Hill AFB Arrive In England

By Howard Altman

Updated on Mar 20, 2025

U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has confirmed that U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes have been flying missions around the border with Mexico.
U.S. Air Force

U-2 Spy Planes Are Flying Border Security Missions Air Force Confirms

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 14, 2025

F-15EX deliveries accelerating.
U.S. Air Force

F-15EX Production Heats Up

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 13, 2025

B-52 Re-Engining Plan Comes Into Sharper Focus
U.S. Air Force

B-52 Re-Engining Plan Comes Into Sharper Focus

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 13, 2025

B-21 refueling requirements are pushing rethinking of tanker needs.
U.S. Air Force

B-21 Aerial Refueling Demands Further Point To It Being A Stealthy Flying Gas Can

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 7, 2025

The U.S. Air Force's new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones are being developed around fundamentally different understandings of maintenance, logistics, and sustainment, with a heavy focus on commercial-of-the-shelf components, than the service's existing crewed and uncrewed platforms.
U.S. Air Force

Collaborative Combat Drones Designed From Ground Up To Do Logistics Differently

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 6, 2025

U.S. Air Force officials remain focused on the ability to disperse forces to far-flung operating locations as the primary means of reducing vulnerability to enemy attacks.
U.S. Air Force

USAF Generals Downplay Calls For More Hardened Aircraft Shelters In Pacific Theater

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 5, 2025

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle conducts combat patrols over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Oct. 20, 2024. The F-15E is deployed within the USCENTCOM AOR to help defend U.S. interests, promote regional security, and deter aggression in the region.
U.S. Air Force

F-15’s New EPAWSS Electronic Warfare Suite Already Has Successor In Development

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 5, 2025

Lockheed Martin has revealed more about its Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT, pronounced ‘comet’), a revised design based on its Speed Racer air vehicle, a missile-shaped uncrewed system you can read more about here. The CMMT is now said to be a family of systems, intended to yield low-cost air vehicles designed for a wide range of missions.
U.S. Air Force

Lockheed’s Low-Cost Cruise Missile ‘Truck’ Is Now In Testing

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 5, 2025

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), has revealed that its jet-powered MQ-20 Avenger drone, equipped with U.S. government-provided autonomy software, took part in a recent Orange Flag test exercise. This is the latest milestone for the Avenger, which has been heavily involved in the testing of different artificial intelligence-driven autonomy systems for several years now.
U.S. Air Force

MQ-20 Avenger Tests ‘Hivemind’ AI In Orange Flag Exercise

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Posted on Mar 5, 2025

A deep review of the U.S. Air Force's paused plans to acquire a new crewed sixth-generation stealth combat jet came to the unambiguous conclusion that the service needs such an aircraft to be best positioned to achieve air superiority in future high-end fights.
U.S. Air Force

Next Generation Fighter Critical To Future Air Superiority, Key USAF Study Concluded

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 5, 2025

A novel type of jet propulsion, a rotating detonation engine (RDE), has been successfully tested by Pratt & Whitney. The development is highly significant for the U.S. military, with RDE technology at the center of the project called Gambit, which aims to provide a propulsion system for a mass-producible, low-cost, high-supersonic, long-range weapon for air-to-ground strike.
U.S. Air Force

Rotating Detonation Engine For Future High-Performance Missiles Successfully Tested

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 4, 2025

The U.S. Air Force has designated the drones that General Atomics and Anduril are currently developing as part of the first phase, or Increment 1, of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program as the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, respectively.
U.S. Air Force

‘Fighter Drone’ Designations Officially Assigned To Collaborative Combat Aircraft By USAF

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 4, 2025

Lockheed Martin says it conducted six successful flight tests last year as part of work to add new capabilities on the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
U.S. Air Force

F-22 Raptors Completed Six Test Flights For New Sensor Upgrades

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 3, 2025

The U.S. Air Force expects to continue utilizing QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) drones converted from F-16 Vipers fighters through at least 2035 despite moving in recent years to wind the program down.
U.S. Air Force

QF-16 Zombie Vipers To Keep Flying And Dying Into The 2030s

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 3, 2025

The Air Force will inspect all 89 of its KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling jets after cracks were found on two set for delivery to the Military Delivery Center.
U.S. Air Force

Cracks In KC-46 Tankers Halt All Deliveries

By Howard Altman

Updated on Mar 1, 2025

An apparently new photo published by Boeing shows one of its F-15 Advanced Eagle series fighters fitted with what looks like a previously unseen infrared search and track (IRST) sensor ahead of the cockpit.
U.S. Air Force

F-15 Nose-Mounted Infrared Sensor Hinted At In New Boeing Photo

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Feb 27, 2025

The U.S. Air Force has formally dubbed its forthcoming OA-1K light attack aircraft as the Skyraider II.
U.S. Air Force

OA-1K Light Attack Special Ops Aircraft Officially Named Skyraider II

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 27, 2025

In this handout image provided by the U.S. Air Force, 492nd FS commander, prepare to taxi their F-15E Strike Eagle prior to their departure from RAF Lakenheath in preparation for Operation Odyssey Dawn missions March 19, 2011 in Lakenheath, United, Kingdom. Approximately 112 cruise missiles fired from U.S. and British ships and submarines targeting about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast.
U.S. Air Force

USAF Air Base In England Is Nuclear Capable Again: Watchdog Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 27, 2025

The U.S. Air Force's force design director says analyses to date show the service will face more operational risk and be less able to achieve assigned objectives without a new crewed sixth-generation combat jet.
U.S. Air Force

Axing Next Generation Fighter Would Leave Air Force Worse Off: Force Design Boss

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 26, 2025

The U.S. Air Force has confirmed that a recently released rendering from the AIM-260A does indeed reflect the actual design of what is also known as the Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM).
U.S. Air Force

This Is What The Classified AIM-260 Missile Actually Looks Like, Air Force Confirms

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Feb 26, 2025

B-52 escorted by F-35s and F/A-18s
U.S. Air Force

B-52 Flies Close To Border Of Russia And Belarus

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 24, 2025

The U.S. Air Force, in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is still exploring concepts for a reusable hypersonic air vehicle capable of performing strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
U.S. Air Force

New Hypersonic Strike-Recon Aircraft Effort Eyeing Prototype Development By 2030

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 20, 2025

AF1 trump model
U.S. Air Force

Trump Mulls Options To Accelerate Delivery Of Air Force One Jets

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 20, 2025

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon flies a presence patrol over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Feb. 11, 2025. As a highly maneuverable and agile platform with a proven record in air-to-air combat and air-to-ground attack, the Fighting Falcon is well-equipped to engage with threats to regional security and deter further aggression in the AOR. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jackson Manske)
U.S. Air Force

F-16s With Larger Laser-Guided Rocket Loads, Drone Kill Marking Emerge Over Middle East

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 19, 2025

Satellite imagery shows the extent of the massive amount of work that has been done in the past year to restore more than 20 million square feet of runways and other World War II-era infrastructure at historic North Field on the U.S. island of Tinian in the Western Pacific.
U.S. Air Force

Massive WWII B-29 Bomber Base Fully Reclaimed For Future Pacific Fight

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 19, 2025

A U.S. Air Force Convair B-36B-1-CF Peacemaker (s/n 44-92033) of the 7th Bombardment Wing in flight, in 1949. This aircraft was retired to the MASDC on 19 November 1956.
U.S. Air Force

America’s First Broken Arrow Incident Happened 75 Years Ago

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Feb 14, 2025

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth utilized a Silver Bullet Command and Control module on his first overseas trip.
U.S. Air Force

C-17’s ‘Silver Bullet’ Airstream Trailer Pod Used By Secretary Of Defense Hegseth On First Overseas Trip

By Howard Altman

Posted on Feb 12, 2025

Three nozzle binding mishaps on KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling tankers have cost the AIr Force nearly $23 million
U.S. Air Force

Tankers Flood Airspace Off The California Coast For China-Focused Air Combat Exercise

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 11, 2025

The F-15EX, the Air Force’s newest fighter aircraft, arrives to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida March 11. The aircraft will be the first Air Force aircraft to be tested and fielded from beginning to end through combined developmental and operational tests. The 40th Flight Test Squadron and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron personnel are responsible for testing the aircraft.
U.S. Air Force

F-15EX Nails Pentagon Test Campaign, Survivability Concerns Remain

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 6, 2025

The U.S. Air Force quietly fixed a problem with the integration of the 30,000-pound class GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb onto the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber last year. As part of the integration work, the service also conducted an important test of a new "smart fuze" for the MOP to help improve the weapon's effectiveness, even when the exact depth and positioning of the buried target are not definitively known.
U.S. Air Force

Massive Ordnance Penetrator Bunker Buster Grows More Potent

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Feb 6, 2025

New information about serious and potentially dangerous deficiencies with the emergency ejection system on the U.S. Air Force's new T-7A Red Hawk jet trainer has been released.
U.S. Air Force

New Details About T-7A Red Hawk Jet Trainer Ejection System Woes Emerge

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 5, 2025

Rivet joint flew off Mexico.
U.S. Air Force

RC-135 Rivet Joint Surveillance Jet Just Flew Unprecedented Mission Off Mexico

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 4, 2025

APKWS infrared seeker in the works.
U.S. Air Force

Infrared Seeker For APKWS Guided Rockets Is In The Works

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Feb 4, 2025

A relatively low-cost cruise missile that the U.S. Air Force is now developing could transform into an air-launched counter-drone weapon.
U.S. Air Force

Cheap Cruise Missile Program Set To Evolve Into Air-To-Air Drone Interceptor

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jan 31, 2025

U.S. Air Force F-16 Vipers have been using 70mm laser-guided rockets to down Houthi drones during operations in and around the Red Sea in the past year.
U.S. Air Force

F-16s Have Been Using Laser-Guided Rockets To Shoot Down Houthi Drones

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jan 29, 2025

F-35 Alaska
U.S. Air Force

F-35 Caught On Video Tumbling Vertically Into The Runway At Alaskan Air Base

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jan 29, 2025

The first supersonic flight of the Boom Supersonic XB-1.
U.S. Air Force

Boom! The XB-1 Demonstrator Jet Has Gone Supersonic

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 28, 2025

The U.S. Air Force has dramatically plussed-up contracts with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, both of which now have a ceiling of $3.5 billion, to continue work on prototype next-generation jet engines.
U.S. Air Force

Billions For Next Generation Fighter Jet Engines Greenlit By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 28, 2025

An Air Force C-32A VIP transport jet, on a special mission for President Donald Trump, had to delay its landing at Joint Base Andrews because F-16C Vipers were scrambled to intercept a drone.
U.S. Air Force

C-32 Forced To Delay Landing After F-16s Scrambled To Intercept Drone Near Capital

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jan 27, 2025

The U.S. Air Force's XQ-67A drone is set to receive modifications and upgrades to demonstrate its ability to perform certain missions as part of a program called Demon Ape.
U.S. Air Force

XQ-67 Getting Overhauled With New Capabilities As Part Of Demon Ape Program

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 24, 2025

F-35 AI-Enabled Drone Controller Capability Successfully Demonstrated
U.S. Air Force

F-35 AI-Enabled Drone Controller Capability Successfully Demonstrated

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 23, 2025

F-22 Raptor To Get Distributed Infrared Search And Track System
U.S. Air Force

F-22 Raptor To Get Distributed Infrared Search And Track System

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 22, 2025

Cheap Cruise Missile Paired With Affordable Seeker From Ship-Killing Smart Bomb Eyed By USAF
U.S. Air Force

Cheap Cruise Missile Paired With Affordable Seeker From Ship-Killing Smart Bomb Eyed By USAF

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 22, 2025

The kit used by Air Force EOD techs was on displace in a recent photo staged during a controlled detonation.
U.S. Air Force

This Shot Of USAF Explosive Ordnance Disposal Techs In The Middle East Goes Hard

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jan 22, 2025

An F-15E on a flight line in San Antonio, Texas. The aircraft was recently upgraded with Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, advanced electronic warfare system.
U.S. Air Force

F-15E Strike Eagle With New EPAWSS Electronic Warfare Suite Heads To Frontline Unit

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 17, 2025

Chinese SAM Launch
U.S. Air Force

Air Force Predicts Enemy Anti-Air Missiles With 1,000-Mile Range By 2050

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 14, 2025

A greater focus on long range strike capabilities is among the alternatives the U.S. Air Force is considering to a costly new crewed sixth-generation stealth combat jet as part of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) family of systems. A lower-cost design focused primarily on acting as a 'quarterback' for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones is also still on the table.
U.S. Air Force

$20 Billion Price Tag To Complete Development Of USAF’s Next Generation Fighter (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 13, 2025

The second tranche of U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones could be between 20 to 30 percent more expensive per airframe than those in the first batch.
U.S. Air Force

Second Batch Of Air Force CCA Drones Could Be 20 To 30 Percent Pricier Than The First

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 10, 2025

Donald Trump has refused to rule out using the U.S. military to seize Greenland, citing economic security as a driving factor, saying that America needs it — as well as the Panama Canal — for “economic security.” Amid predictable kickback from Denmark — of which Greenland is an autonomous territory — it’s worth looking in more detail at the enormous significance of one of the world's largest islands, in economic, geostrategic and, above all, military terms.
U.S. Air Force

Why Greenland Is Of Growing Strategic Significance

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 9, 2025

The arsenals of the U.S. Air Force's F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15EX Eagle II combat jets look set to grow with the addition of stealthy AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM).
U.S. Air Force

Stealthy AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles To Arm F-15EX, F-15E

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jan 9, 2025

A new independent report says that U.S. airbases have been left worryingly vulnerable, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, by a lack of investment in new hardened aircraft shelters, or even unhardened ones.
U.S. Air Force

Lack Of Hardened Aircraft Shelters Leaves U.S. Airbases Vulnerable To China New Report Warns

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 8, 2025

The U.S. Air Force sent at least 39 A-10s to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona this year, more than double the number of Warthogs it sent into mothballs in 2023.
U.S. Air Force

39 A-10 Warthogs Went To The Boneyard This Year, More Than Double Over Prior Year

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 31, 2024

The U.S. Army says it is planning to award a sole-source contract to BAE Systems to produce a prototype self-propelled 155mm howitzer for use as a novel air defense system.
U.S. Air Force

Railgun Ammo-Firing 155mm Air Defense Cannon Set To Be Awarded To BAE Systems

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 24, 2024

In the face of post-Cold War drawdowns, the U.S. Air Force pushed ahead with buying the famously expensive F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in part because of a perhaps unexpected reason: concerns about Syrian air defenses.
U.S. Air Force

Syria’s Air Defenses Helped Make The F-22A Raptor A Reality

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 20, 2024

The FAA has banned drone flights over 22 New Jersey power infrastructure sites.
U.S. Air Force

Drone Flights Banned Over New Jersey Energy Infrastructure Sites

By Howard Altman

Updated on Dec 19, 2024