All Department of the Air Force (USAF) articles – Page 12
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In depthMQ-Next should include both expendable and high-end UAVs: Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is proposing a range of unmanned air vehicle options for the US Air Force’s MQ-Next development programme, including a type that the company calls “expendable”.
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NewsGeneral Atomics Sparrowhawk seen for first time in captive carry tests on MQ-9 Reaper
Sparrowhawk is designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as electronic warfare, work. It is to be air launched and air recovered by the larger MQ-9 Reaper UAV.
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NewsUS Air Force HH-60W combat rescue helicopter starts live-fire tests
The service aims to demonstrate the functionality, accuracy and safety of three gun options for the new combat rescue helicopter, the USAF says on 16 September. The helicopter was grounded for the initial live-fire tests.
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NewsUSAF launches MQ-9 ARES contract following similar commoditised F-16 deal
The US Air Force (USAF) has granted General Atomics Aeronautical Systems an Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution (ARES) a contract, which pre-prices the MQ-9A Reaper unmanned air vehicle (UAV).
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NewsUSAF Special Ops wants VTOL aircraft with ‘jet speed’ to replace CV-22
The US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is looking to leap ahead with the aircraft that replaces its Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey.
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NewsLockheed Martin aims to put laser weapon on aircraft in five years
Its Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System would be used to shoot down incoming tactical missiles, for instance, air-to-air missiles or surface-to-air missiles.
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NewsHow the X-47B influenced Northrop Grumman’s MQ-Next proposal
If Northrop Grumman’s proposal for MQ-Next looks a lot like the company’s X-47B unmanned air vehicle (UAV), that’s because the new SG-2 flying wing concept draws a lot of its features from the demonstrator jet.
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NewsUSAF Special Ops return to niche missions for great power competition
US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) plans to move away from some of the counter terrorism and anti-insurgency missions that it assumed after the 11 September 2001 attacks, in favour of traditional niche roles in the USA’s budding great power competition with Russia and China.
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NewsUSAF secretly builds and flies next-generation fighter demonstrator
The US Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown a full-scale demonstrator aircraft that is part of its Next Generation Air Dominance programme.
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NewsUSAF passes targeting data to HIMARS inside Boeing C-17
The US Air Force (USAF) has downloaded target information to a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) while it was being carried inside a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft.
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NewsUSAF’s digitally engineered aircraft to receive ‘e’ prefix, starting with Boeing eT-7A
If aerospace manufacturers weren’t already motivated enough to design their latest aircraft using much-talked about “digital engineering” software programs, secretary of the US Air Force Barbara Barrett says anyone who does so will have their aircraft prefixed with the letter “e”.
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NewsGeneral Atomics unveils ‘ultra-long endurance’ replacement for MQ-9 Reaper
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has unveiled a rendering of its next-generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and strike unmanned air vehicle as a proposed replacement of the US Air Force’s MQ-9A Reaper.
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AnalysisAI to dogfight against real-world fighter aircraft in 2024: Pentagon
“We see AI as a tool to free up resources, time and manpower, so our people can focus on higher priority tasks and arrive at the decision point, whether in a lab or on the battlefield, faster and more precise than the competition,” says US secretary of defense Mark Esper.
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OpinionWill commoditised sales of the F-16 fighter work?
The Pentagon’s plan to offer a commoditised version of the Lockheed Martin F-16 could help propel the world’s best-selling fighter aircraft to new heights, but it remains to be seen if foreign customers will put aside their fondness of fancy custom features.
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NewsUSAF conducts second, ‘more complex’ field test of Advanced Battle Management System
As part of the most recent test, US military forces simulated using ABMS to “detect and defeat efforts to disrupt US operations in space”, says the USAF. The forces also coordinated the shoot-down of a mock cruise missile using a new “hypervelocity weapon”.
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NewsM-Code GPS and inertial navigation for F-22 and E-2D finishes critical design review
Northrop Grumman’s Embedded Global Positioning System and Inertial Navigation System-Modernization (EGI-M) programme recently finished its critical design review.
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NewsScramjet-powered HAWC moves toward first flight after captive carry
Lockheed Martin-Aerojet Rocketdyne and Raytheon Technologies-Northrop Grumman teams have each developed competing hypersonic cruise missiles as part of the HAWC programme.
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NewsUS Air Force works to let foreign militaries rearm, refuel and repair F-35As in the field
To prepare the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II for the austere air basing conditions of its new combat strategy, the US Air Force (USAF) is looking to maintenance partnerships with foreign militaries and logistics support from the US Navy and US Marine Corps, as well as a programme to increase the breadth of skill of its maintainers.
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NewsRaytheon plans expeditionary JPALS and F-35A signal test
Raytheon plans to conduct a signals test between the Lockheed Martin F-35A and an expeditionary version of its Joint Precision Approach and Landing System for the US Air Force at Nellis AFB in October.
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NewsExosonic developing low-boom supersonic jet possibly to serve as ‘Air Force One’
Start-up Exosonic recently won a US Air Force (USAF) contract to develop a low-boom supersonic executive transport that could serve as a future “Air Force One”.