Air Force And Space Force On Right Vector—But Need More Resources To Meet Defense Strategy

USAF and USSF Department of the Air Force Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s first budget built entirely under his direction does a fine job of underwriting Air Force and Space Force capabilit...

What One Space Force General Did When We Weren’t Watching

Maj Gen Purdy and Charles Beames at the Space Mobility Conference in Orlando, FL. Space Mobility Conference Photographer While the rest of us have been distracted by the clickbait of commercial rocket...

Three Essential Truths Space Force Must Never Forget

Three Essential Truths Space Force Must Never Forget ShutterStock | Pretty Vectors High level budget allocation or “top lines” are typically ordered down from the Executive Office of the President to ...

The Air Force Launched 15 Percent of Its C-17 Fleet in a Recent Surge Exercise

A flight of 24 C-17 Globemasters – 15% of the USAF’s C-17s – from the Charleston, SC-based 437th … [+] Airlift Wing in mass formation for a show of force flight over the Ravene...

Meeting In Washington, U.S. Surface Navy Mulls Lost Mojo

The Navy must realize the 1990s are long past. Getty Images As the U.S. Navy surface warfare community convenes in Washington for the Surface Navy Association’s 35th National Symposium, Secretary of t...

The Pentagon, In A Tech War With China, Is On Track To Field Its First Electric Aircraft In 2023

Air Force Maj. Jonathan Appleby (left) and Beta Technologies test pilot Camron Guthrie sit in the cockpit of Beta’s electric aircraft, Alia, during a flight test March 14 over Plattsburgh, N.Y. ...

U.S. Air Force Reveals (Not So) Cutting Edge B-21 Stealth Bomber

B-21 Stealth bomber unveiled for first time in Palmdale, California. Northrop Grumman Unveiled during a ceremony Friday evening at the secretive Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, the B-21 “Raider” ste...

Move Ukraine Beyond Stalemate By Supplying Combat Aircraft

MQ-1C Gray Eagle in Flight General Atomics News from Ukraine provides signs for hope with Ukrainian forces reoccupying Kherson, and Russians surrendering to drones. However, this conflict is still far...

It’s Been 50 Years Since the Air Force Last Operated a Single Engine Tail-Dragger. How Will It Train New OA-1K Pilots?

The L3Harris/Air Tractor AT-802U Sky Warden, now formally called the OA-1K by the Air Force, on … [+] display at the 2022 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa Bay, FL. ...

Air Force F-35 Lightning IIs Still Can’t Fly Within 25 Miles of …Lightning

U.S. Air Force Capt. Kristin “BEO” Wolfe, F-35 Lightning II Demonstration Team commander and pilot, … [+] flies in the 2020 Stuart Air Show Nov. 7, 2020, Stuart, Florida. U.S. Air Fo...

A KC-46 Crew Gutted Out a Day and a Half-Long Mission to Prove the Air Force Can Offset Its Dwindling Number of Tankers

Lt. Col. Greg Van Splunder and Lt. Col. Brandon Stock, pilots with the 157th Air Refueling Wing, … [+] guide their KC-46A Pegasus as it receives fuel from another Pease KC-46A during a 36-hour e...

2 Live Crew – The Air Force Flew a KC-46 Refueling Mission with Just One Pilot and One Boom Operator

A KC-46A Pegasus like this one flew an entire aerial refueling mission with one pilot and one boom … [+] operator, two people – just as with the F-15E pictured here – on October 25. ...

Five Ways A New Air Force Tanker Competition Would Be Very Different From The Last One

One of the most important roles the Air Force performs is providing aerial refueling for U.S. military aircraft and those of allies. With military engagements typically unfolding thousands of miles fr...

Air Force, Navy Plans Look Totally Out Of Sync With China Threat Estimates

What’s wrong with this picture? Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that China has accelerated its timetable for taking control of Taiwan, and the Navy’s top officer said that a milita...

The Air Force’s Aged Fleet Of AWACS Radar Planes Is In ‘Hospice Care.’ It Needs New Planes As Soon As Possible.

The E-3 Sentry AWACS plane with its rotating radar dome above the fuselage has long been a symbol of Western resolve to resist aggression. A total of 68 were built during the cold war, with half being...

Leadership Actions On Drones Put Lives At Risk And Undermine U.S. Security

MQ-1 Predator A Tail 3034, first to fire a Hellfire in combat. Photo by Eric Long, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Exactly 21 years ago today U.S. military commanders first employed a weapo...

Five Reasons Buying An All-New Engine For The Air Force’s F-35 Fighters Is A Real Bad Idea

Over the last decade, the Pentagon’s F-35 fighter has progressed from controversy to acclaim. With more than 800 fighters delivered to three U.S. military services and nearly a dozen allies, the steal...

Provide The Airpower Ukraine Needs To Win Now

F-15 and F-16 Fighters U.S. Air Force photo Time is not on Ukraine’s side. The West’s current strategy guarantees a long, drawn-out stalemate. But airpower could change the balance of the Russia...

The Air Force Is Retiring Most of Its Global Hawk ISR Drones to A Test Role for Hypersonic Missiles

An RQ-4 Global Hawk receives routine maintenance after being refueled at Grand Forks Air Force Base, … [+] North Dakota. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Elora McCutcheon Most of the Air...

U.S. Service Member Arrested For Explosion On American Base In Syria

Topline A member of the U.S. Air Force was arrested in connection with an attack on an American base in Syria, the military said Tuesday, months after an explosion injured four U.S. personnel in easte...

The Proposed 2023 Defense Budget Doesn’t Meet U.S. Security Goals

Cover from FY23 DOD budget request DOD Will the president’s proposed 2023 federal budget allow the Department of Defense to satisfy the demands of the National Defense Strategy? The short answer is no...

The Space Force Requires A Space National Guard

National Guard and Space Force Official Seals In a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, it was revealed that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed that the spac...

Ukraine’s Best Fighter Jets Just Bombed The Hell Out Of The Russian Troops On Snake Island

Su-27s strike Snake Island. Ukrainian defense ministry capture The Ukrainian air force’s best fighter jets just staged a daring raid on the Russian force occupying Ukraine’s strategic Snake Island. Th...

Ukraine’s Air Force Is Back! But Who Knows For How Long.

A Ukrainian Su-25 over Donbas on May 7, 2022. TikTok capture Ten weeks into Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, Kyiv’s tiny, aging air force is in much better shape than anyone should have expected prior t...

Ukraine’s Pilots Are Flying Into Battle With Old, Dumb Missiles. It’s One Reason They Get Shot Down.

Ukrainian Su-27s during a pre-war exercise. Ukrainian air force photo The Ukrainian air force began the current war at a serious disadvantage compared to the Russian air force. Fewer and older planes,...

How Used Aircraft Parts Can Help DoD Improve Mission Readiness

By Randy Starr and Dennis Santare Randy Starr, an ex-Army commander of an airborne rapid deployment force, and Dennis Santare, a former Marine Corps pilot, are partners in the firm’s aerospace and def...

Why The U.S. Air Force Is Supplying Ukraine’s New Loitering Munitions

Yesterday the Pentagon announced it was sending a new, previously unknown type of loitering munition to Ukraine called Phoenix Ghost. But while anti-tank weapons are being shipped by the thousand, onl...

Ukraine Is Losing Several S-300 Anti-Air Launchers A Week. But It Still Has Hundreds Left.

A destroyed Ukrainian S-300 battery in eastern Ukraine in late March 2022. Russian defense ministry capture Ukraine had around 100 active batteries of S-300 long-range air-defense systems with as many...

Ukrainian Helicopters Reportedly Strike Fuel Depot Over Border In Russia

Topline A fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod is on fire Friday after Ukrainian helicopters reportedly crossed the border and attacked the facility, the governor of the region said on social me...

World Events Demand Congress Reset Administration F-35 Cuts

OGDEN, UT: A F-35 fighter jet on a training mission (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) Getty Images Speaking to a joint session of Congress on March 16, Ukrainian President Zelensky issued an emotion...

A Drone With A Small Bizjet Engine Might Simulate 5th Generation Fighters For Cheap

The “Fury” aggressor drone that Blue Force Technologies hopes to build, flight test and sell to the … [+] Air force and others could provide cheap, numerically dense 5th generation t...

Space Industrial Base? The Answer is Right in Front of You, Mr. Secretary

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, left, shakes hands with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ … [+] Brown, Jr., before a meeting with Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones, Brow...