Saturday, November 22, 2025
Solving staggering readiness and parts availability issues should be pushed to the forefront of the Air Force's program planning and budgeting activities, service chief of staff nominee and retired Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said today.
President Trump's nominee to be the next Air Force chief of staff, recently retired Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, said today he would aim to follow congressional intent when doling out funds from the reconciliation bill but declined to fully commit to those guidelines.
The Air Force wants to field its Next Generation Air-Refueling System by 2036, leaving Boeing's KC-46A Pegasus tanker as the only platform within reach that can meet the service's modern tanking capability requirements in the near-term, according to a document released Oct. 2.
The Air Force is looking to strengthen its capability to rapidly develop, produce and eventually mature novel advanced aircraft engine options, according to a request for information posted today.
The Defense Department will carry on with activities to develop the fiscal year 2027 budget request in the background of the federal government shutdown, a Pentagon official told Inside Defense.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air National Guard says it has a roadmap to modernize its aging fighter fleet without cutting or changing the mission of active-duty units, countering an all-or-nothing approach the Air Force detailed in a recent report to Congress.
Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon have inked a more-than-$12.5 billion contract for F-35 Lots 18 and 19, according to a Defense Department announcement today. (UPDATED)
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Within the last year, the Air Force has asked industry to submit both small- and medium-thrust-class engine proposals to potentially power the next increment of the service's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program and other unmanned aerial systems, a Honeywell executive told Inside Defense.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air Force will narrow a large pool of vendors to develop airframe design analysis for the second increment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft within the next few months, top program officials said today.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Engine-maker Pratt & Whitney has completed critical testing on its small turbofan engine series for potential use on the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the company announced today, proving current production engines can provide more thrust on unmanned platforms than previously thought.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air Force is sorting through a subsequent cost refinement study for its Next Generation Air-Refueling System after an initial analysis of alternatives resulted in "some really rough costs," according to a top service official.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Anduril Industries' YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft will likely fly for the first time in the middle of October, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said today.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Boeing has started to assemble the Air Force's first F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance fighter jet, service Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said this morning.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is testing ways to introduce new AI and gaming technologies into air operations planning, with its APEX GEAR prototype already shortening decision-making timelines and developing more thorough combat schemes.
Engine-maker Pratt & Whitney is developing a new family of engines intended to power munitions and the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft, spanning a thrust class of 500 to 1,800 pounds, the company announced today.
The Air Force would need to either close or change the mission of seven active-duty fighter units to fully recapitalize the entire Air National Guard fighter fleet -- a move that would cost more than $30 billion -- according to a report obtained by Inside Defense.
An AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile was shot off an F-22 Raptor to its longest range to date in testing, according to a company news release.
ROLLING MEADOWS, IL -- As Northrop Grumman sees the Pentagon refocus itself on homeland defense, the company expects to enter low-rate initial production and to begin a production contract next summer for its long-awaited, modernized F-16 Fighting Falcon electronic warfare package.
The advanced propulsion industrial base can handle two separate supply chains to produce an engine for both the Air Force's F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet and the Navy's F/A-XX, according to a senior GE Aerospace executive.
Defense firm Applied Research Associates will design and build a prototype for the Air Force's Next Generation Penetrator bomb, the company and the service announced over the weekend.