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U.S. Air Force News

  • Team tests pod at 'LITENING' speed

    Three Air Force units have started accelerated testing of a LITENING-AT targeting pod. The 416th Flight Test Squadron here is working with the 85th Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and the 422nd OTES at Nellis AFB, Nev., to update the existing LITENING pod with

  • Atlas V Astra launch planned

    The Air Force’s 45th Space Wing will support the launch of an ASTRA European telecommunications satellite on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 20. The 45th Space Wing will provide range and launch base support to Lockheed Martin and International Launch Services, the commercial

  • Program slashes maintenance time for the B-2 fleet

    A critical material scale-up problem that directly affected the operational maintainability of the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit fleet has been solved, thanks to engineers from the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, working with the B-2 Systems Group and material processing experts.Through this

  • New radio technology keeps troops in touch

    Riding as part of a convoy escort team outside the wire, the Airman feels alone. Feeling nervous, he keys his radio mic to check in with his base -- and hears nothing but dead air. To ensure scenarios like this don’t occur, the Air Force is leading a joint implementation of a new “Radio over

  • Minotaur launch successful

    A Minotaur rocket was successfully launched at 6:40 p.m. April 14 from Space Launch Complex-8 on south Vandenberg.The rocket launched the COSMIC spacecraft, which consists of six low-earth orbiting, micro-satellites. COSMIC stands for Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and

  • Air Force committed to unmanned aerial vehicle development

    Unmanned aerial vehicles are successfully transforming the way the Air Force does business, and the service is committed to supporting and developing more of them. Innovative UAV tactics have transformed the battle space as witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Maj. Gen. Stanley Gorenc, Air Force

  • Missile defense site named after President Reagan

    The missile defense site here took on a new name April 10. The Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site honors the 40th president of the United States who was a champion of the need for missile defense.Attendees at the ceremony included former First Lady Nancy Reagan; Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon

  • Air Force wins two modeling, simulation awards

    The Air Force has won two of the five awards presented by the Department of Defense in modeling and simulation.Air Force winners are: Analysis: Weapon Effects Analysis and Probability System Team, Air Force Materiel Command. The team was awarded for developing and maintaining a world-class software

  • Space superiority a priority for Air Force authority

    They almost scrapped the mission. An Air Force weather officer and the satellites at his disposal talked them out of it. It was a cold night in March 2003. With rain and low visibility, more than 1,000 Soldiers aboard 16 C-17 Globemaster IIIs waited to either go on their parachute mission into

  • Palmdale detachment takes testing to new heights

    Edwards Air Force Base has a history of testing cutting-edge weapons systems for the Air Force. A little-known detachment at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., also has a testing history, but the aircraft tested there are not as well-known as the newest Air Force assets. Warner Robins Air

  • Network passwords will soon be a thing of the past

    Airmen have been carrying around some pretty high-tech identification cards in their wallets for quite a while now. That technology will soon be put to good use. For many, the Common Access Card, or "CAC," is just a replacement for the green military ID card used for so many years. But the card can

  • Controllers handle a third of Iraqi airspace

    With more than 10,000 aircraft flying through their airspace each month, the Airmen of the 407th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron stay busy. “We are responsible for one third of Iraq -- any aircraft coming in or going through,” said Senior Master Sgt. Troy Hammond, 407th EOSS chief

  • Acquisition general testifies before subcommittee

    The military deputy for Air Force acquisition testified about service contracts procedures and defended the price tags of some of those contracts before the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness here April 5. “The Air Force recognizes that services acquisition is an area of high interest to

  • Air Force improves Web site

    To meet the needs of an ever-changing environment, starting April 10, Airmen can expect Air Force Link to have a slightly different look. Maintained at Headquarters Air Force News Agency here, the site will give visitors more control over the content they wish to view. New category links, found on

  • Vandenberg launches Minuteman III

    An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Vandenberg today at 6 a.m. The launch was part of a developmental test to demonstrate the weapon system’s effectiveness in a stressed environment on extended range. The missile's single unarmed re-entry vehicle traveled

  • Ionospheric forecasts improve warfighter communication efficiency

    During specific times of the year over the Earth's equatorial region, turbulence in the ionosphere, known as scintillation, causes extended degradation for Department of Defense navigation and communication satellites.  But a sensor package installed at each of 14 locations worldwide has helped

  • AF launches cyberspace task force

    Cyberspace. The word generally conjures up images of computers, wires, connections and hardware. But, for the Air Force, cyberspace is far more than that. “Cyberspace is a domain where the Air Force conducts operations," said Dr. Lani Kass, director of the Air Force Cyberspace Task Force. It is the

  • Air defense, flight restrictions discussed at conference

    More effective, more efficient ADIZ and TFRs. That’s the message from Air Force pilots, battle commanders and air space controllers this week as Continental U.S. NORAD Region representatives reach out to the general aviation community attending the 2006 Sun ‘n Fun Fly-in here. Of specific interest

  • Space mission supports Operation Iraqi Freedom

    An Army ground patrol in Iraq is ambushed. Pinned down by sniper fire, the commander calls for air support with his satellite phone. Within moments an F-16 Fighting Falcon is overhead. The jet drops a 500-pound precision-guided bomb on a two-story building housing the enemy, causing only minimal

  • Pegasus launches from Vandenberg

    An Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket was launched today at 6:03 a.m. The rocket took off from an L-1011 aircraft and carried NASA’s Space Technology 5 spacecraft into orbit. Spacelift commander for the mission was Col. Frank Wolf, 30th Space Wing vice commander. The spacelift commander

  • New customer support centers make life simpler

    New Air Force combat and mobility logistics support centers, opening in early April, will make ordering, tracking and shipping supplies to troops worldwide a simpler, more customer-friendly process, said officials here. The centers will open at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and Scott AFB, Ill. “The

  • CV-22 delivered to Air Force

    A new chapter in Air Force aviation opened March 20 as the first operational CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft arrived here. The aircraft was flown from the test wing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., by Lt. Gen. Michael W. Wooley, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, to the 58th

  • Fighter aircraft help apprehend insurgents

    Air Force fighter aircraft pilots helped apprehend three suspected insurgents accused of mortaring Balad Air Base, Iraq, March 16. The pilots, who flew two F-15E Strike Eagles with the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, were on a close-air-support mission near Balad when mortars were detected by the

  • MQ-1 Predator crashes in Iraq

    An Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, crashed at about 3:30 a.m. today while operating in Iraq. Airmen and Soldiers recovered the wreckage and returned it to its home base.The UAV was based with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Balad Air Base, Iraq, and being

  • Joint Strike Fighter program crucial to future air dominance

    Keeping the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program on track is important because the Air Force needs to replace aging aircraft and it is an important complement to the F-22A Raptor aircraft. That Capitol Hill testimony came March 16 from Lt. Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler, deputy chief of staff for Air

  • AMC changes public Web as AF seeks standardization

    Headquarters Air Mobility Command launched its new public Web site today, following an Air Force plan to consolidate all Web content and standardize the appearance of its public sites worldwide. The command joins Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air Force Materiel

  • SECAF speaks on Capitol Hill

    Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne spoke at the Capitol Hill Club on March 15. Some of the topics he spoke on were the Quadrennial Defense Review and the war on terrorism. To listen to his speech, click on the related link.

  • Nuclear Weapons Center set to open at Kirtland

    Kirtland will become the home of Air Force Materiel Command's newest organization, the Nuclear Weapons Center, on March 31. "The base has been at the heart of nuclear activities for over 60 years, so it is no surprise that the NWC would find a home here," said Col. Greg Foraker, director of the

  • Electronic Systems Center team pushing 'smart' process, culture change

    An Electronic Systems Center team is working to save time, money and tons of material, all while increasing security when America's most sensitive information is distributed. The Cryptologic Systems Group, located at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is working to institute an electronic "key" process

  • Osprey simulator up, running

    The CV-22 Osprey simulator was officially welcomed at the 19th Special Operations Squadron with a ceremony earlier this month. The $21 million simulator is intended to provide refresher and proficiency training to pilots, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Jay, CV-22 simulator program manager. “We are not

  • Air sampling study benefits Airmen's health

    The average human takes about 12 to 20 breaths each minute. Exactly what those breaths contain is now being monitored in a study. Airmen are participating in the U.S. Central Command Enhanced Particulate Matter Surveillance Initiative to determine the levels of total solid particulates in the

  • Responsive, affordable satellite enhances support to warfighter

    In the battle environment, every second counts, and accelerated (within 10 minutes) information downloaded to the joint warfighter, to be demonstrated in the upcoming TacSat-3 mission, could result in victory, but more importantly, in lives saved. Planned to launch in summer 2007, the TacSat-3

  • JDAM continues to be warfighter's weapon of choice

    To call yourself the Airman warfighter's weapon of choice is one thing, but it's quite another to go out and back it up. Since its debut in 1999, the Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, has been called upon more than 15,000 times and continues to be used in the global war on terror. JDAM is a

  • Pegasus launch delayed

    The launch of an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket has been delayed due to weather restrictions. The launch has been rescheduled for March 15. The launch window extends from 5:57 a.m. to 7:19 a.m. The rocket, carrying the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Space Technology

  • What’s in a name?

    The Space Warfare Center here became the Space Innovation and Development Center in a formal ceremony March 8. The name has changed, but the organization’s mission remains the same, the commander said. “One of the things I want people to understand is that there’s no change in our mission,” Col.

  • Air Force introduces next generation cruise missile

    Since the late 1970s the Department of Defense has tried and failed numerous times to give the warfighter an affordable standoff cruise missile capable of taking out the enemy's air defenses early on in a conflict. Fast forward to 2006 and that warfighter need has finally been met by the Air Force's

  • Weather info delivered to warfighter faster with integration

    Net-centric weather integration is one of the many important initiatives being tested during the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2006 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. This integration, sponsored by the Air Force Weather Agency, demonstrates the capability to provide critical, time-sensitive

  • Electronic initiative gets critical information to commanders

    An initiative designed to electronically transmit intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to commanders is currently being tested here at Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2006. With non-traditional ISR services, information will flow directly from aircraft to the Air and Space

  • OPSEC tool pulverizes paper

    She’s called the “shredder queen.” Staff Sgt. Cassandra Ali, 379th Expeditionary Communications Squadron base records manager, keeps track of Airmen who sign up to shred paper. In the last two weeks, she’s moved 57 20-pound bags of pulverized paper from the base’s newest operational security tool, a

  • National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex set to reopen

    The Arnold Engineering Development Center and the Air Force recently signed a lease to reopen the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex located on NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.Under the terms of a 25-year lease, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will retain

  • Air Force accepts delivery of its first combat configured CV-22 Osprey

    Aeronautical Systems Center's commander, Lt. Gen. John L. “Jack” Hudson, along with other Department of Defense leaders, was on hand to accept the keys from Bell Boeing for the first combat configured CV-22 Osprey during a ceremony March 1 at the Bell manufacturing facility in Amarillo, Texas. "It's

  • Watts up: Shop hardwired to deployed base

    Flip a switch and a light goes on. Plug in an electric shaver and it recharges. Push start on a microwave and the food becomes piping hot. These are all easy everyday activities most people go through. But for one shop within the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, it’s an everyday job to

  • Air Force committed to energy-efficient strategies

    The Air Force continues its pledge to be a leader in energy stewardship. For the last six months, the Air Force has been working on a strategy to have energy as a consideration in nearly all of its activities, from operations to acquisition. The Air Force is increasing efforts to reduce the demand

  • GPS helps warfighters track ‘bad guys’

    When U.S. forces get to Iraq and Afghanistan, they’re finding dry, featureless terrain with no real landmarks or points of reference to use when they travel across these wide-open and often dangerous landscapes. In the past, maps and a compass were the decisive tools used by servicemembers to track

  • Big leap forward in detecting ground targets from cosmos

    When launched in 2010, a football-field-in-length demonstrator radar antenna, weighing more than 5 tons, will serve as the forerunner for the future of America's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets in space. Administered by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles

  • Protein study a real eye opener

    Warfighters will never have the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but a specialized whey protein supplement under study here could enhance mental and physical performance. A double-blind Air Force Research Laboratory study was launched Feb. 3 as part of an operational readiness

  • AFRL breakthrough furthers space optics

    Positioning three delicate, circular mirrors to one one-thousandth of the width of a human hair challenged scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate here. But, not anymore. For five years they studied the deployable optical telescope, or DOT. The telescope