All United States Air Force articles – Page 16
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NewsCombat-coded F-35A to begin dropping bombs
In February or early March, a combat-coded F-35A from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill AFB will release an inert, laser-guided bomb at the nearby Utah Test and Training Range.
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NewsUS Air Force highlights UAV staffing strain
The number of daily US Air Force unmanned air vehicle combat air patrols (CAPs) reached its peak in 2015, but such demand, and the resulting manning shortages, have put extra strain on surveillance operations.
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NewsF-35 training at Luke AFB gathers pace with 34 jets
The multinational pilot training centre at Luke AFB in Arizona has grown exponentially since receiving its first Lockheed Martin F-35 in March 2014, and that pace won’t let up in 2016 as the 56th Fighter Wing zips past 3,000 Lightning II sorties.
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NewsDemand for low airfares increasing appeal of unmanned flight
The rising cost of providing navigation equipment for airline pilots, and the parallel demand for cheaper airfares, will inevitably lead to piloted flight being obsolete in 40 years’ time, a defence consultant has argued.
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NewsPICTURES: B-52 joins F-15s and F-16s in Korea after nuclear test
North Korea’s underground nuclear test last week might not have yielded the hydrogen bomb “supreme leader” Kim Jong-un claimed, but the seismic spectacle did produce a captivating aerial display south of the border.
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Opinion
OPINION: Talons drawn for T-X trainer battle
If 2015 was the year of the bomber, the US Air Force’s requirement for a next-generation fighter trainer will be one of the hottest games in town in 2016.
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News
Quarrel over next-gen nuclear cruise missile heats up
As the voices opposing America’s new nuclear-tipped cruise missile grow louder, recently-retired air force general Larry Spencer has rejected suggestions that cancelling the programme will inspire other nations to follow suit.
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NewsWelsh: Modernise USAF or risk more lives in future conflict
The military head of the US Air Force has warned that the cost of not modernising front-line combat aviation forces “will be measured in terms of lives lost of friendly forces”.
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NewsF-22, Typhoon and Rafale tested in new joint combat exercise
The increasingly cluttered warzone in Syria and the recent shoot down of a Russian Su-24 bomber by Turkey underscore the need for deeper interoperability, deconfliction and coordination between coalition fighters, according to US Air Force’s top general.
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NewsJSTARS programme forges ahead with Pentagon tick
An air force programme to recapitalise the timeworn Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, is moving forward with the Pentagon’s blessing after receiving “Milestone A” approval from the US military’s top weapons buyer last week.
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NewsUSAF ‘all-in’ on JSTARS Recap despite opposition
The US Air Force’s proposed acquisition of a next-generation JSTARS battlefield management platform faces an uphill struggle to secure the required funding, and would be cancelled altogether if some within the Pentagon had their way.
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NewsUSAF denies seeking more F-16 or F-15 combat jets
The US Air Force has denied any plans to purchase another tranche of Lockheed Martin F-16 or Boeing F-15 combat jets following reports it could seek bids for up to 72 new aircraft.
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NewsNorthrop, Raytheon ready for USAF's JSTARs radar competition
Raytheon and Northrop Grumman have raised their hands to participate in a radar engineering project tied to the US air force’s approximately $9 billion acquisition of “JSTARS” business jets for wide-area airborne surveillance and battle management.
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NewsUS special forces seek tube-launched glide bombs
The US air force has expressed interest in rapidly acquiring lightweight glide bombs capable of striking fast-moving targets from the common launch tubes of special operations aircraft.
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NewsLockheed-built X-56A crashes at USAF test range
One of two Lockheed Martin X-56A unmanned testbed aircraft built to trial new flutter-suppression technology for high-aspect-ratio wings has crashed at the Rogers Dry Lakebed test range in California, the US air force has disclosed.
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NewsCalls for Pentagon to raise combat-coded bomber count to 160
Air power advocates in Washington have called for the Pentagon to consider building to a force of 150 to 160 mission-ready heavy bombers before the Boeing B-1 and B-52 retire in 2045.
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NewsGhostrider gunship scrapped after inverted flight scare
The US Air Force had to scrap one of its brand-new Lockheed Martin AC-130J Ghostrider gunships following a training mishap earlier this year, the service has revealed.
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NewsBomber advocates target USAF’s ‘squishy’ LRS-B requirement
Long-Range Strike Bomber advocates are calling on the US air force to drop its “squishy” requirement for 80 to 100 next-generation heavy combat aircraft to replace the B-1B and B-52 and instead focus on the “bare minimum" requirement for 100.
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News
DUBAI: USAF secretary to redouble efforts on sluggish FMS process
US Air Force secretary Deborah Lee James says concerns about the sluggish US foreign military sales approval process featured prominently in her discussions at the Dubai Air Show, with complaints coming from industry and regional partners.
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NewsUSAF QF-4s set for 2017 out of service date
The US Air Force expects to cease carrying out test support using its 22-strong fleet of BAE Systems QF-4 Phantom aerial targets in January 2017, followed by a complete out of service date in the middle of that year.