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U.S. Air Force News

  • AFCEC plays vital role in DAF climate plan initiatives

    AFCEC has a significant role in climate change initiatives intended to enhance resiliency at Air Force installations by addressing the risks severe weather poses to infrastructure, operational capabilities and readiness as outlined in the DAF Climate Campaign Plan.

  • AFMC innovation team revolutionizes stealth fighter fleet

    An F-35A Lightning II recently took flight with a complement of software applications developed by government and industry providers previously tested on the F-22 Raptor – demonstrating for the first time the ability to use the same tactical software applications on both stealth fighters.

  • Earth Day 2023: Invest in our planet, protect our future

    In celebration of Earth Day and in alignment with this year’s theme, “Invest in our Planet, Protect our Future,” the Department of the Air Force highlights how it works to preserve natural habitats and ensure resilient infrastructure, operations, and communities.

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • F-35 conducts first flight with TR-3

    A developmental test team from the 461st Flight Test Squadron conducted the first flight of an F-35 Lightning II in the Technology Refresh 3 configuration Jan. 6 at Edwards Air Force Base

  • AFTC Airmen spark data solutions at hackathon

    The national security environment is affected by the rapid development of new technologies involving “big data” analytics, and the protection and proper utilization of our data is vital to advancing test capabilities at the Air Force Test Center. In order to merge data, tools and relevant problems,

  • Test Integration: three missions, three views, one goal

    The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Air Force Test Center, and U.S. Air Force Warfare Center signed a Tri-Center Integrated Test and Evaluation Memorandum of Understanding which focuses on adopting a unified vision for driving integrated test and evaluation.

  • Reserve Airman makes history with innovative Project FoX/F-35 development

    The event was a milestone for the Fighter Optimization eXperiment, or FoX, a project that seeks to rapidly integrate advanced software and hardware technologies to maximize the F-35’s lethality and survivability, while creating an agile development test tool and fielded combat multiplier for all

  • CSAF visits Edwards AFB

    Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., and his wife, Sharene Brown, visited Edwards Air Force Base, March 30 – April 1.

  • Orange Flag, Black Flag collaborate to accelerate change

    Orange Flag, the large force test event carried out three times annually by Air Force Test Center’s 412th Test Wing, combined with the 53rd Wing’s Black Flag, brought several firsts for the test community March 2-4.

  • Orange Flag brings test data to warfighter

    Orange Flag is an exercise born from a need to maximize resources across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains to include joint and coalition forces. The exercise aims to bring test as close as possible to the warfighter through combat relevant testing early in the development cycle.

  • CSAF visits Edwards AFB

    The visit marked Goldfein’s first trip to Edwards AFB. He received a tour of numerous base facilities and was briefed on some of the current test projects on the base. He also learned about the added COVID-19 safety measures and how Edwards AFB personnel have worked through the COVID-19 safety

  • Finances made easy with new online portal

    The Comptroller Services Portal is an automated incident management application that allows customers to request and receive online assistance from their servicing comptroller squadron. CSP has integrated workflows which assist the customer in seeking help with travel pay, military pay and civilian

  • Accident report released on fatal parachute jump

    Staff Sgt. Adam K. Erickson, a Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE, specialist with the 412th Operations Support Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, California, sustained non-survivable injuries during the training jump in conjunction with his official duties as a member of the Test

  • Air Force, USFWS partner to protect natural, cultural resources

    The Air Force Civil Engineer Center and USFWS kicked off a joint Conservation Law Enforcement Partnership, or CLEP, this fall, placing six USFWS conservation law enforcement officers, or CLEOs, across five Air Force installations. These officers are responsible for preserving Air Force natural and

  • Acting SecAF Donovan announces B-21 manufacturing, testing locations

    While speaking at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Donovan remarked on the Air Force’s B-21 program noting, “the development of the B-21 Raider is on schedule and the first test aircraft is under production at the same production facility in Palmdale, California, as its

  • AFMC conducts focus groups across enterprise

    The AFMC We Need enterprise-wide initiative, launched in late June 2019, seeks inputs and recommendations from AFMC civilian and military Airmen that can help posture the command to best support the National Defense Strategy today and in the decades to come.

  • Air Force Academy teams up with Test Pilot School in new candidacy program

    Test Pilot School is a highly competitive, 48-week educational opportunity for aviators, combat systems officers, remotely piloted aircraft pilots and engineers. Graduates of the course receive a Master of Science in flight test engineering and go on to test a variety of aerospace weapon systems for

  • Fighter pilot embodies ‘Captain Marvel’ spirit

    In early February, roughly 80 female pilots gathered together on Edwards Air Force Base, California, to take part in the video filming of an Air Force Recruiting Service commercial. The commercial was made to coincide with the release of the new film “Captain Marvel,” which also involved filming at

  • KC-46 hits milestone at Edwards AFB

    Fielding began last week on America’s newest air refueling tanker aircraft – the KC-46 Pegasus. Operationalizing a new military aircraft does not happen often, but when it does, it typically goes through Edwards Air Force Base – the center of the aerospace testing universe. Regardless of whether it

  • Joint Simulation Environment inches closer to reality

    The 412th Electronic Warfare Group is one step closer to bringing the Joint Simulation Environment to life at Edwards Air Force Base. The 412th EWG recently began work to pave the way for ultimately building a new facility to house the JSE.

  • Air Force announces bases to support B-21 Raider mission

    The Air Force has selected Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to coordinate maintenance and sustainment of the B-21 Raider and Edwards AFB, California, to lead testing and evaluation of the next generation long-range strike bomber.

  • F-35s begin Auto GCAS test flights

    The 461st Flight Test Squadron recently began test flight missions with the F-35 Lightning II and the Auto GCAS at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

  • Air Force, Hollywood partner during making of “First Man”

    Since the inception of the Air Force in 1947, film makers, novelists and even creators of video games have wanted to tell the tales of Airmen. The Air Force Public Affairs Entertainment Liaison office works to project and protect the image of the U.S. Air Force within the global entertainment

  • 418th FLTS completes 10-year support of NASA Orion parachute tests

    For a decade the 418th Flight Test Squadron has supported NASA by supplying C-17 Globemaster IIIs and personnel to assist with the testing and qualifying of the Orion spacecraft’s parachute system. That support ended Sept. 12 with the success of the final parachute system test over the Army’s Yuma

  • Chaplain supports security forces through ‘ministry of presence’

    His voice can be heard through the hallways of the 412th Security Forces Squadron headquarters. It is loud and commanding. Though his voice doesn’t instill a feeling of uneasiness or dread, rather it invokes a smile. When Airmen hear his laugh, they know the chaplain is in.

  • Edwards AFB creates aerial refueling test tool to save time, money

    Leadership across the Air Force want their workforce to focus on innovation every day, whether it is making things better, more efficient, or saving money. A small team at Edwards Air Force Base can now check off all those boxes with their custom-built test tool designed to cut down test costs and

  • Edwards AFB squadron completes Joint Strike Missile test program

    A team of U.S. Air Force engineers, test pilots, and Norwegian government and industry personnel recently completed a large phase of testing for the Joint Strike Missile.The JSM is Norway’s advanced anti-surface warfare missile designed for the new F-35A Lighting II’s internal weapons bay. The

  • Around the Air Force: April 18

    On this look around the Air Force the F-35 program completes the most comprehensive flight test program in aviation history, Vandenberg Air Force Base unveils a solar array project, and cadets learn about their Pathway to Blue. Hosted by Staff Sgt. Braden Anderson.

  • Edwards AFB members win top DoD maintenance award

    Members of the 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force and the 412th Maintenance Group won the Department of Defense 2017 Maintenance Innovation Challenge People's Choice Award for using small unmanned aircraft systems to conduct exterior maintenance inspections on large

  • DoD, academia test systems for GPS denial

    Navigating the globe was once done using the sun, moon and stars as references, but modern times bring modern methods, and the majority of the world now relies on GPS for its navigation needs.

  • B-52 testers complete leaflet bomb drops

    An important part of U.S. military operations overseas is communicating with the local population. This can be done in a number of ways including something as simple as distributing leaflets.  In psychological operations, leaflets with messages are often dropped from aircraft in order to reach a

  • Around the Air Force: July 21

    On this look around the Air Force, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright shares the major changes made to Enlisted Professional Military Education for the 21st century, Air Force medical practitioners work with their Fijian counterparts, and Edwards Air Force Base, California,

  • Innovation challenge brings possible advancement in F-22 test capabilities

    The 412th Test Wing’s Experimentation Center for Ideas/Technology Exploration team, known as XCITE, hosted a one-day innovation challenge July 10, 2017.Several engineers from around Edwards Air Force Base partnered with members of the Desert High School Robotics team to come up with a solution to a

  • Test team looks at new parachute for ACES II ejection seat

    EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- Members of the 418th Flight Test Squadron are testing a new parachute canopy for the Advanced Concept Ejection Seat II. Testers are collecting data on the GR7000 parachute, which has been proposed to replace the current C-9 canopy used in the ACES II ejection

  • 416th FLTS upgrading F-16 radar

    The 416th Flight Test Squadron continually conducts developmental testing to enhance the warfighting capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. One focus of the F-16 testers here is the integration and testing of a new radar as part of the F-16 Radar Modernization Program.

  • Portable Manned Interactive Cockpit goes on the road

    One of 2016’s quick-kill innovation projects, the Portable Manned Interactive Cockpit, was deployed to Orlando, Florida, to participate in the Operation Blended Warrior event in December. This was the second year of a four-year event. Mark Louton, an Experimentation Center for Ideas/Technology

  • B-52 undergoes HERO testing at Edwards AFB

    A B-52 Stratofortress from the 96th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is undergoing Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance testing in the Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF) here.

  • Around the Air Force: Jan. 18

    On this look around the Air Force, Airmen at Edwards Air Force Base, California, developed a new way to reduce the cost of testing fire suppression systems, a satellite launched from Vandenberg AFB, California, and Civilian Health Promotion Services is helping people quit smoking.

  • Edwards AFB reduces cost for fire suppression test

    Members of the F-35 Integrated Test Force developed a new funnel system that captures the foam or water deluge during required hangar fire-suppression system tests, saving $79,750 and several days of delay, which can be critically important for test programs.

  • Multiple F-35s take to the skies to test communication data links

    All three variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter were used by the 461st Flight Test Squadron in recent multi-ship testing, which employs four or six jets to ensure communication systems between the planes are working properly and accurately.  The F-35 contains state-of-the-art tactical data links

  • Around the Air Force: Dec. 2

    On this look around the Air Force the first Japanese F-35 arrives at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona; Edwards AFB in California is testing ways to save fueling cost for the C-17 Globemaster III; and the Air Force band performs at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

  • Final phase of C-17 drag reduction testing underway

    When it comes to aviation fuel, the C-17 Globemaster III utilization rate makes it stand out as the largest consumer in the Air Force. This is why a team at the 418th Flight Test Squadron has been working for the past year on the Air Force Research Laboratory’s C-17 Drag Reduction Program.

  • Edwards AFB squadron tests missile for European ally’s F-35

    From Norway to Australia, members from a number of allied and partner nations have come to Edwards Air Force Base to team with base units to test systems, enhance international cooperation and advance their own air force’s capabilities.

  • Boom operators help develop new KC-46 system

    Earlier this year in Everett, Washington, workers from Detachment 1, 418th Flight Test Squadron, and Boeing teamed up to achieve major test milestones for the KC-46A Pegasus, which resulted in the Defense Department authorizing initial production in August.

  • New test force focuses on autonomy

    The 412th Test Wing has a new organization that will explore the Air Force warfighting capabilities of tomorrow.The Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force was officially activated in early July and its mission is to provide agile, innovative flight test capabilities for emerging

  • F-35 surges forward with record-breaking weapons tests

    The F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base, California, recently completed 25 missions comprised of 12 weapons delivery accuracy and 13 weapon separation tests as part of a monthlong weapons firing test surge.

  • Former AFMC commander talks innovation, third offset

    Innovation and the nation’s third offset strategy were topics brought forth by retired Gen. Gregory S. Martin, a former commander of Air Force Materiel Command, as he spoke with service members at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Aug. 24.

  • Edwards team creates mobile, reconfigurable cockpit

    The Portable Manned Interactive Cockpit was designed and is being built by members of the 772nd Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The PMIC is expected to be completed and ready for use by July 2016.

  • Edwards testing facility hosts first Canadian air force plane

    For the first time ever, a Royal Canadian Air Force plane has entered the Benefield Anechoic Facility, a state-of-the-art center for electronic warfare testing. A team of engineers, operators and defense scientists from Canada are wrapping up electronic warfare testing of a CC-130J Hercules

  • Total force integration significant in KC-46 support

    When the Air Force and Boeing launched the KC-46 Pegasus program, the 412th Test Wing was tagged as one of the prime players in testing and validation of the aircraft. To help with this, the wing is now relying on support from the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve.

  • Around the Air Force: May 20

    This look around the Air Force features a B-52 Stratofortress accident at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam; Gen. Lori Robinson assumed command of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command; and Edwards AFB, California, tested the RQ-4 Global Hawk in icy conditions, without ice.

  • C-17 drag reduction testing aims at saving fuel

    From testing synthetic biofuels to "vortex surfing," Edwards Air Force Base, California, is on the forefront of finding new ways to cut fuel costs for the Air Force. The latest venture is currently underway at the 418th Flight Test Squadron where a test team of Air Force and Boeing personnel

  • Putting the Pegasus through its paces

    As the Air Force gets ready for the arrival of its newest aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft, a diverse group of Airmen is working hard to make sure the KC-46A Pegasus is ready to meet the service’s needs. Lt. Col. John Mikal is one of them.

  • First simulated F-35A deployment conducted at Mountain Home AFB

    A much anticipated and important test mission for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program is underway with the "deployment" of six operational test and evaluation F-35s and more than 85 Airmen from the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, who arrived Feb. 8-9.

  • F-35 fires first AIM-9X missile

    An F-35 fighter jet from the 461st Flight Test Squadron launched an AIM-9X missile for the first time over the Pacific Sea Test Range Jan. 12.

  • Test team aims at new machine gun for Pave Hawk

    Arriving in the rain, an HH-60G Pave Hawk landed Jan. 5 at Edwards Air Force Base to begin testing the ballistic dispersion of a GAU-21 .50-caliber machine gun. The Pave Hawk will be at Edwards AFB until Jan. 22 where the 412th Test Wing and 418th Flight Test Squadron are providing the facilities,

  • NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance aircraft arrives at Edwards

    NATO's first Alliance Ground Surveillance aircraft arrived at Edwards Air Force Base Dec. 19 completing its first flight. The test flight marked the start of six months of ground and airborne testing at Edwards AFB before the aircraft is sent to its new home in Sigonella, Italy.

  • AMC C-17 facilitates airdrop for Missile Defense Agency test

    Over the summer, the Air Force Test Center sent a C-17 Globemaster III with air and maintenance crews from Edwards Air Force Base to Hawaii, but it was no vacation. The crews worked 24-hour shifts for several months to support a Missile Defense Agency test of the Ballistic Missile Defense System

  • KC-46 test aircraft touches down at Edwards

    The KC-46 program's first test aircraft, a Boeing 767-2C (EMD-1), departed from its home at Boeing Field in Seattle and touched down at Edwards Air Force Base for the first time for testing Oct. 15.

  • C-17 treads into new territory

    As important as ailerons, rudders and elevators are to the fundamental movement of any aircraft in flight, its tires are equally important while moving on the ground.