NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • AFSC bases continue advances to support pregnant, nursing Airmen

    Efforts to expand support of working mothers across Air Force Sustainment Center bases continue, including access to lactation rooms and pods, reclassification of wireless breast pumps to allow entrance into secure areas and easy access to maternity uniforms.

  • GearFit shortens feedback loop

    A new application called GearFit is giving Airmen a direct line to share feedback on fitment and utility of the gear they wear to perform their missions.

  • Air Force selects future aircrew helmet

    The helmet prototype was chosen after Air Combat Command initiated the search for a next-generation helmet to address issues with long-term neck and back injuries, optimize aircraft technology, improve pilot longevity, and provide better fitment to diverse aircrews.

  • Richardson takes command of AFMC

    Gen. Duke Z. Richardson assumed leadership of the Air Force Materiel Command during a ceremony at the National Museum of the Air Force, June 13.

  • First T-7A Red Hawk rolls out

    The first T-7A Red Hawk training aircraft rolled off the production line at the Boeing Defense, Space & Security building at Lambert International Airport.

  • Air Force fields new rifle to Airmen

    The SDMR will replace legacy M24 Sniper Weapon Systems for security forces defenders performing base defense operations in-garrison and in contingency support.

  • Air Force delivers E-4B simulator

    The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Simulator Division delivered the first ever high fidelity, full motion simulator designed to replicate E-4B flying operations and aerial refueling capability April 1.

  • CSAF delivers new C-37B to JB Andrews

    Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. flew the first of two new C-37B aircraft, which was assigned the tail number 1941 in honor of the year the Tuskegee Airmen were founded.

  • Kessel Run's C2IMERA used during Afghan evacuation

    C2IMERA, which stands for Command and Control Incident Management Emergency Response Application, is an application focused on reporting, planning, force generation, emergency management, and command and control monitoring and execution.

  • Directorate leads KC-135 upgrade for Turkish Air Force

    The upgrade, termed “Block 45,” completely remodeled the inside of the Turkish KC-135R Stratotanker’s flight deck, with new liquid crystal displays, radio altimeter, computer module updates, autopilot, and a digital flight director, replacing approximately 63 parts to include analog instruments

  • Female body armor secures Hanscom AFB defenders

    The recently-developed armor is a lighter weight than previous editions and features a curved chest plate and shorter torso size. An adjustable corset tightens to fit the wearer, distinguishing it from a one-size-fits-all piece of equipment.

  • AFLCMC Focus Week returns July 26-30

    Dozens of courses are available, ranging from career and functional area-specific training, coaching, seminars, and personal development classes. Focus Week also provides an opportunity to earn continuous learning points.

  • Hanscom AFB team demos data sharing technology

    The Tactical Data Link Enhancements Team, formed through a partnership between the Aerial Networks Division, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center, traveled to Eielson Air Force Base and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson,

  • Air Force releases Bridge Tanker Sources Sought Announcement

    The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center issued a Sources Sought Announcement for the Bridge Tanker Program to determine the number of qualified, interested companies capable of providing solutions for the planned, non-developmental tanker recapitalization program.

  • Acting SecAF visits Robins AFB

    Acting Secretary of the Air Force John P. Roth visited Robins Air Force Base May 10-11 to receive briefs on the base’s depot maintenance operations and Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, along with meeting with Robins AFB Airmen and Middle Georgia community leaders.

  • First B-1Bs resume flight operations

    The first B-1B Lancers resumed flight operations May 3 following a safety stand-down issued April 20 by Gen. Tim Ray, Air Force Global Strike Command commander. Individual B-1B aircraft will return to flight as inspections and maintenance directed during the stand-down are completed on each

  • Air Force receives first F-15EX

    The U.S. Air Force officially accepted the first F-15EX from the Boeing Co. March 10 at the company’s St. Louis facility.

  • VCSAF meets with accelerators of change in Boston

    Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin arrived at Logan International Airport on Monday and stepped off the aircraft with an extra sense of urgency. His flight wasn’t late, nor was he running behind schedule for his meeting in downtown Boston. Allvin’s deliberate stride was appropriate to

  • CBM+ redefines aircraft maintenance

    In a recent episode of Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Leadership Log podcast, Chris Damani, CBM+ Program Office chief, described CBM+ as a new sustainment paradigm that is transforming the way the Air Force sustains its fleet. The central element is leveraging artificial intelligence and

  • AFLCMC delivers final F-15SA to Royal Saudi Air Force

    The final F-15SA advanced fighter aircraft were delivered Dec. 10 to the Royal Saudi Air Force – a key milestone supporting the National Defense Strategy imperative to strengthen alliances and attract new partners.

  • DoD awards Hanscom AFB professionals

    The Honorable Ellen Lord, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, announced the winners of the 2020 Defense Acquisition Workforce Awards, which included members of the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks, or C3I&N, and the Digital Directorate, both

  • AFLCMC engineer wins Women of Color STEM honor

    Monique Brission, Air Force civilian and electrical engineer for Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Fighters and Advanced Aircraft, was honored with the Professional Achievement in Government award during the 2020 Women of Color STEM Virtual Conference held Oct. 8-10, 2020.

  • AFMC successfully navigates FY20 challenges

    With a focus rooted in the ability to sustain the mission, and an eye towards long-term expansion and growth, the Air Force Materiel Command successfully executed a $67 billion portfolio in fiscal year 2020, ensuring operational mission success for warfighters.

  • New commander charts AFLCMC future course

    Lt. Gen. Shaun Morris, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander has been busy getting up to speed on the latest activities in the center’s vast portfolio. With 28,000 personnel across nine major operating centers, AFLCMC executes a $304 billion operating budget to deliver – from uniforms and

  • AFMC, AFGSC establish Weapons System Lead Wing Collaboration Program

    Gen. Arnold W. Bunch, Jr., AFMC Commander, and Gen. Timothy M. Ray, AFGSC Commander, cosigned a memorandum aimed at developing deeper collaboration between the program offices and operational wings, providing a venue for acquisition and operational Airmen to gain insight into each other’s

  • Program Office awards $7.4 billion ceiling MQ-9 Reaper contract

    In an effort to field MQ-9 Reapers faster and meet an increasing operational demand for the aircraft, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s MQ-9 Program Office awarded a $7.4 billion ceiling Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution (ARES) contract to General Atomics Sept. 17.

  • AFLCMC seeks program managers at Hanscom AFB

    The event will bring together hiring managers and qualified candidates seeking program management positions in the Digital and Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorates.

  • AFLCMC awards Skyborg contract

    These initial awards will establish a vendor pool that will continue to compete for up to $400 million in subsequent delivery orders in support of the Skyborg Vanguard Program.

  • Tanker Directorate team installs ADS-B Out on KC-135 fleet

    The ADS-B Out program was established to upgrade the KC-135 fleet with the next-generation transponder system that is critical for air traffic control’s visibility into their respective airspace. The system broadcasts the precise position and location of aircraft in real time, giving air traffic

  • AFLCMC acquires new Air Force handgun

    The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Small Arms Program Office acquired approximately 125,000 M18s from Sig Sauer for $22.1 million, and is making them available to Air Force organizations that have a handgun requirement.

  • AFLCMC maintenance team airlifts to repair F-16s during COVID-19 pandemic

    To prevent a standard 14-day mandatory quarantine required by personnel traveling through commercial airports, the AFLCMC depot field team located at Hill AFB, Utah, were flown directly to Holloman AFB on a C-130 Hercules the week of April 27 to fix three F-16 Fighting Falcons in a weeks’ time and

  • DAF ACT contracting executes N95 mask production for DoD

    The Department of the Air Force’s Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force (DAF-ACT) executed a $126 million contract on May 1 for expanded production of N95 masks—26 million per month—starting in October. The contract, awarded to 3M, will increase the supply chain of N95 masks and resupply the Strategic

  • Faster, smarter: virtual hiring fair recruits STEM talent

    In conjunction with the Air Force’s Personnel Center, the Air Force Materiel Command held a virtual hiring fair April 23, 2020 to fill open science, technology, engineering and mathematics positions across the command.

  • AFLCMC-led team delivers isolation container prototype for testing

    Rapidly developed in response to the United States Transportation Command's Joint Urgent Operational Need, the Negatively Pressurized Conex, or NPC, is designed to fit inside of a C-17 Globemaster III, and enable the safe transport of as many as 28 patients both ambulatory and litter, and teams of

  • Agility Prime to hold virtual launch event

    During the week of 27 April, Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, will officially launch Agility Prime, the Air Force program to accelerate the growth of the transformative vertical flight market for subsequent government use.

  • Kessel Run brings new software to Vermont ANG aircraft maintainers

    In the course of two weeks, Kessel Run personnel started with zero Mad Hatter users from the Vermont ANG and grew to 78 user accounts at the 158th Maintenance Group. Airmen were able to recover, service and launch aircraft entirely using Mad Hatter applications, resulting in 10 successful sorties

  • Air Force partners with Google to improve IT security

    The effort covers three areas: Network-as-a-Service, End User Services and Compute and Store, and consists of technical assessments to determine if alternative solutions can meet unique Air Force requirements.

  • DRAGON simulator to augment AWACS training

    DRAGON, replaces 1970s analog technology with digital, automated aircraft navigation functions, and it ensures E-3 aircraft are compliant with current and future air traffic control requirements.

  • Wright-Patterson AFB opens cyber defense facility

    One of the Air Force’s ongoing challenges is to create processes, infrastructure and capabilities to counter threats to its weapon systems. To address this, organizations are looking at creative ways to forge partnerships and alliances to advance the cyber resiliency of weapon systems by protecting

  • Future deployers: Don’t forget to feed the runway

    Three Blue Horizons fellows, with different technical backgrounds, including a former member of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, were among those who graduated June 3 as part of this year’s class of 16.

  • AFMETCAL updates NextGen

    The updates included fixes to software bugs and automated support capability for pieces of old and new Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment.

  • ACE helps programs avoid risk and grows managers

    When the Combat Search And Rescue mission-planning application needed modernization, its program managers turned to the Acquisition Center of Excellence at Hanscom Air Force Base to chart a process for fast fielding using CSAR Airmen’s frequent input.

  • AFMC hiring effort draws new talent, faster

    With a command mission that relies heavily on a more than 65,000 person civilian workforce, recruiting, developing and retaining top talent is critical to success. This is the driving force behind the ongoing AFMC effort to transform the civilian hiring process across the enterprise to meet mission

  • AFLCMC team working to acquire next generation fixed-wing helmet

    The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Human Systems Division working with members of the Advanced Tactical Acquisition Corps or ATAC, one of the center’s premier leadership development programs, are in the early stages of acquiring the next generation helmet for aircrews in fixed-wing

  • Email in the cloud: CHES phase 1 completion

    On Nov. 8, 2018, the Air Force Network Integration Center, or AFNIC, concluded the first phase of the Air Force’s transition to Cloud Hosted Enterprise Services, completing the migration of 555,000 continental U.S. based Air Force hosted e-mail accounts to a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration

  • AFMC unleashes $4.6M in FY18 Squadron Innovation Funds

    When Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein asked leaders to “unleash the brilliance in our Airmen,” Air Force Materiel Command answered the call, executing more than $4.6 million in Squadron Innovation Funds in fiscal year 2018.

  • JCAT Airman uses combat forensics to evolve the AFCENT mission

    The ideal outcome of any conflict is to achieve victory and come out the other side unscathed. However, an undesired outcome does not mean lessons cannot be learned and applied for future conflicts. The United States military has used this mentality since its inception and applies it today in the

  • UPE Integration Team lead visits Wright-Patt

    Brig. Gen. Edward L. Vaughan, the new Air Force Unexplained Physiological Events Integration Team lead, visited Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Aug. 27 to tour the 711th Human Performance Wing’s Onboard Oxygen Generating System lab and learn how 711HPW is collaborating with Air Force Life Cycle

  • Galaxy wraps upgrades to become C-5M Super Galaxy

    The first flight of the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy took place on June 30, 1968, with an audience including President Lyndon Johnson. Now, 50 years later, the Super Galaxy is still going strong.

  • 633rd MDSS tests new Expeditionary Medical Systems equipment

    The Air Combat Command Surgeon General Office partnered with representatives from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to conduct an exercise testing new joint expeditionary collective protection tent systems at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, June 20, 2018.

  • Kessel Run hits hyperdrive

    Thirty active duty Airmen, Air Force civilians and contractors gathered in a shared workspace downtown May 7, 2018, for the opening of the Kessel Run Experimentation Lab, where they will build the next generation of combat software.

  • AF Fire Emergency Services test fire trucks in extreme cold

    Air Force fire service professionals at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, recently spent a week in the coldest weather the country has experienced this year to test the discharge systems of firefighting agents on Air Force fire trucks.

  • Upgrades to missile detection radar earns civilian recognition

    Dr. Donald Hoying, the radar’s program manager at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, leads a team of 50 military and government civilians and contractors who are working to upgrade these SSMs while improving the radar’s satellite, space-borne object and missile detection capabilities. In November,

  • Air Force Tech Report: Thor Weather System

    FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (AFNS) – The latest step in a long-running weather prediction arms race is a supercomputer created by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and used by the 557th Weather Wing to get critical information to warfighters. The Thor Weather System provides accurate

  • AFLCMC awards major long range radar contract

    The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center here awarded the Raytheon Company a $52.6 million contract May 11, 2017, for the three-dimensional expeditionary long-range radar system.

  • Robotic technology developed for F-22s

    Robotic technology developed through the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research program will soon make the process of restoring specialized coatings on F-22 Raptor engine inlets more efficient for aircraft maintenance personnel during depot maintenance at the Ogden Air Logistics Complex,

  • Next generation coatings booth poised to save Air Force millions in energy

    It only makes sense for the Air Force’s newest, most complex, multi-role fighter to have the most advanced, state-of-the-art sustainment facilities to ensure enduring power for years to come.The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Power Technology Office is on the front lines of making this