July 8, 2026 F-15EX returns to Pacific The 85th TES deployed the F-15EX Eagle II to Japan's Kadena AB to train with the 18th Wing and test human-machine teaming with an uncrewed MQ-28 Ghost Bat, advancing Defense of War’s lethality goals in the Indo-Pacific.
June 17, 2026 Air Force advances future of air superiority with CCA contracts The DAF awarded contracts to develop and produce its first-generation Collaborative Combat Aircraft, while creating a competitive marketplace for mission-autonomy software from six vendors.
June 9, 2026 DAF senior leaders explain, justify sizable budget boost in Senate hearing DAF senior leaders presented a unified front to a Senate subcommittee justifying a historic budget request for fiscal 2027.
May 21, 2026 DAF leaders outline readiness, modernization priorities in FY27 budget testimony Department of the Air Force and Department of War leaders testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the fiscal year 2027 budget request.
April 23, 2026 USAF, Netherlands formalize partnership on Collaborative Combat Aircraft development The Department of the Air Force and the Netherlands Ministry of Defence have formalized a partnership to acquire prototype Collaborative Combat Aircraft, advancing a shared strategy to bring greater affordable mass to deter, and if necessary, defeat adversaries.
April 16, 2026 Experimental Operations Unit accelerates Collaborative Combat Aircraft program The Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit, under Air Combat Command, concluded a critical exercise with Collaborative Combat Aircraft recently at Edwards Air Force Base, putting principles of the new Warfighting Acquisition System into practice.
March 26, 2026 AFMC hosts USecAF during Wright-Patterson AFB immersion The visit provided an opportunity for Lohmeier to meet with command leaders and subject matter experts, who offered insights on current and future missions, challenges and opportunities.
Feb. 23, 2026 Collaborative Combat Aircraft program progresses through deliberate weapons integration testing The Air Force has entered the next phase of developmental testing for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
Feb. 12, 2026 Air Force validates open architecture, expands Collaborative Combat Aircraft ecosystem The CCA program validates a modular, open-systems approach, allowing the Air Force to rapidly integrate the best technology from any vendor to equip the warfighter faster.
Feb. 5, 2026 Shaping the future of airpower: Air Force requirements transformation industry day The United States Air Force hosted industry partners Jan. 29 as part of its effort to transform the Requirements Process, bringing together approximately 350 defense industry leaders.
Dec. 22, 2025 Air Force designates Northrop Grumman’s Talon prototype as YFQ-48A The U.S. Air Force announces the designation of YFQ-48A as the Mission Design Series for Northrop Grumman’s Project Talon, a semi-autonomous prototype aircraft, underscoring the Air Force’s commitment to rapidly delivering next-generation capabilities.
Sept. 5, 2025 Around the Air Force: Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Alternative Navigation Milestone, Testing Helicopters vs. Fighters In this week's look around the Air Force, a new CCA platform takes a big step toward flying alongside manned fighter jets, alternative navigation software tests internal GPS measures, and the ANG tests helicopter countermeasures against fighter jets.
Aug. 27, 2025 Collaborative Combat Aircraft, YFQ-42A takes to the air for flight testing The Department of the Air Force reached a key development milestone in its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, with one of its prototype platforms taking flight in less than two years from program launch.
May 30, 2025 CSAF underscores Beale's role in forging the future force Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin visited Beale Air Force Base to showcase the base's role in shaping the future force.
March 21, 2025 Air Force Awards Contract for Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform, F-47 The Department of the Air Force announced today the contract award for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development of the Next Generation Air Dominance Platform.
Jan. 3, 2025 Around the Air Force Year in Review: Great Power Competition, Realignment for Readiness, and Housing Feedback System In this week’s look around the Air Force, we look back at three significant stories from 2024: SECAF highlights key accomplishments and emphasizes GPC, the Air Force realigns to maintain future competitiveness, and the DoD launches a new online housing feedback system to improve quality of life.
Sept. 20, 2024 Around the Air Force: Great Power Competition, Realignment for Readiness, and Housing Feedback System In this week’s look around the Air Force, SecAF Frank Kendall highlights accomplishments and emphasizes Reoptimization, AF realigns structure to maintain competitiveness, and DoD launches an online housing feedback system.
Sept. 16, 2024 Kendall highlights accomplishments, urgency to finish transitioning to Great Power Competition Conceding that his future as secretary is connected to the outcome of November’s election, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall used a high-profile keynote address Sept. 16 to highlight achievements modernizing and reshaping the Air Force and Space Force while also emphasizing unfinished work
May 3, 2024 Around the Air Force: Warrant Officers Needed, Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Five & Thrive Expands In this week’s look around the Air Force, Airmen can now submit applications to become warrant officers, two industry partners are awarded contracts under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, and the Five and Thrive initiatives expand.
April 24, 2024 Air Force exercises two Collaborative Combat Aircraft option awards The CCA program is part of the Next Generation Air Dominance Family of Systems, which is a DAF effort to equip the force with crewed and uncrewed platforms that can meet the pacing challenge.
June 21, 2023 DAF chief scientist, MIT host AI workshop Dr. Victoria Coleman, chief scientist of the Air Force, in collaboration with the Department of the Air Force-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, hosted a foundational innovation and technology education workshop June 5-8.
March 28, 2023 Kendall, Brown, Saltzman tell lawmakers ‘on-time’ budget needed to meet security challenges, transform Air, Space Forces DAF senior leaders told Congress that progress is being made modernizing the Air and Space Forces but to fully succeed, Congress must pass the budget on time so critical “transformation” is not delayed.