President Barack Obama's decision to nominate Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh to be the service's next chief of staff has set off a chain reaction of promotions and reassignments.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Thursday, May 30, 2024
President Barack Obama's decision to nominate Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh to be the service's next chief of staff has set off a chain reaction of promotions and reassignments.
The House Armed Services Committee, which last month recommended providing the Air Force with more than $250 million in unrequested funds to keep the Global Hawk Block 30 program operating, released legislative language today that would keep the C-27J Spartan airlift fleet alive as well.
The Pentagon in late July is scheduled to render a materiel development decision on the future of the Air Force's Weather Satellite Follow-on, the successor to the recently terminated Defense Weather Satellite System.
The Air Force's top military official today urged policymakers to loosen export-control restrictions and allow the Defense Department to share more of its unarmed and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms with international partners.
House authorizers have moved to block the Air Force from spending money on any activity related to a new-start manned platform that provides ground moving target indicator capability until the service submits a detailed report on the future of the GMTI mission.
House authorizers have recommended fully funding the Air Force's bomber aircraft plans in fiscal year 2013, but those same lawmakers are "discouraged" and "disappointed" by the service's path forward on several platforms, among them the next-generation bomber.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense has opted to adjust some of the Air Force's proposed force-structure changes and keep two-dozen C-130s in the Air National Guard, a decision made after two months of sustained pressure from Congress and state governors.
Top Defense Department officials involved with the Joint Strike Fighter program will not be appearing on Capitol Hill this week after all.
The Miniature Air-Launched Decoy-Jammer's prime contractor, Raytheon, confirmed this week that the Air Force has ordered the company to stop work on the MALD-J's second increment after it was canceled in the fiscal year 2013 budget request.
The Air Force has announced its intent to release a formal request for proposals next week to bring on a second contractor for the Family of Beyond-Line-of-Sight Terminals program.
A Government Accountability Office report released today warns the Air Force to expect some concurrency risk later this decade as it continues development and begins low-rate production of its KC-46 next-generation tanker aircraft, an issue the program office says it is well prepared for.
Rather than placing its fleet of Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft in storage, the Air Force should consider transferring the 18 remotely piloted aircraft to the Navy, U.S. Special Operations Command or another organization that could benefit from employing the airplane, a senior House appropriator said today.
Joint Strike Fighter engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney and its major suppliers are coming to terms with how to keep lowering the cost of the F135 engine even as the Defense Department significantly slows its procurement of the JSF aircraft, according to two company executives.
Comptrollers across the military departments would have few difficulties implementing Congress' sequestration provision because the rigidity of those $500 billion in cuts puts the onus of applying them on program offices and personnel managers, not budget experts, an Air Force official said this morning.
The F-35A has been granted a military flight release by the Aeronautical Systems Center, opening the door for pilots at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, to begin flying the Joint Strike Fighter.
The Air Force is working to increase the rate at which it trains fighter pilots and absorbs them into operational units, but force structure reductions, flying hour cuts and the return of assets from overseas present a challenging scenario, according to two senior service officials.
ORLANDO, FL -- The Air Force is beginning to analyze the way it sustains its newest platforms, especially those performing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, after years of depending almost exclusively on contractors to provide that support, the service's top civilian said today.
ORLANDO, FL -- Test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, have been able to successfully perform "air starts" on the Joint Strike Fighter over the last few weeks, an important milestone in opening up the aircraft's test syllabus, according to a Lockheed Martin test pilot.
The Air Force has determined that a trio of delays in nuclear enterprise modernization programs represents a manageable risk and will still allow those programs to meet combatant commander requirements, according to a service official.
Two of the Air Force's biggest priorities will take up an increasing share of the service's research, development, test and evaluation budget in the coming years, Air Force officials said today.