Air Force Plans 149 F-15EX Fighters Through 2031, Seeks $2.66 Billion
149 fighters would give the F-15EX Eagle II a much larger place in the U.S. Air Force than its original…
U.S. Air Force
Air Force Seeks 1,509 Combat Jets as Purchases Trail Annual Goal
The U.S. Air Force has told Congress that its fighter fleets must grow to 1,509 combat-coded aircraft by 2035. Yet…
Air Force Plans $1.06 Billion F-47 Test Campus, First Buildings Due 2031
The U.S. Air Force plans to spend $1.057 billion on a dedicated operational-test campus for Boeing’s F-47 fighter at Nellis…
Air Force Awards $694 Million Hypersonic Missile Contract After Failures, Withholds Order Size
The U.S. Air Force calls its decision to produce the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon a “turning point,” but the public…
Boeing Connects Nine C-17s to SpaceX Network; Contracts Cover 19
Boeing technicians have equipped nine U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets with communications hardware linked to SpaceX’s military…
Air Force Faces $14 Billion Parts Hole That Money Alone Cannot Fix
The U.S. Air Force has a $14 billion “hole” in spare parts, according to Lt. Gen. Linda Hurry, commander of…
B-52’s Nearly $21 Billion Rebuild Faces Problems Across 10 Major Upgrades
The U.S. Air Force is trying to preserve the B-52 into the 2050s without allowing the rebuild itself to consume…
Air Force Replaces 33 Feet of B-1B Spine Three Months Early
Repairing an aging bomber starts with a basic problem: the aircraft in the hangar is no longer identical to the…
Air Force Plans $1.7 Billion to Keep B-1B and B-2 Bombers Flying
The U.S. Air Force faces a fleet-management problem that cannot be solved simply by retiring its oldest bombers. It plans…
Air Force’s 140 Bombers Handled 48 Global Deployments in 18 Months
The U.S. Air Force has roughly 140 B-1B Lancer, B-2A Spirit and B-52H Stratofortress bombers, yet those fleets supported 48…
Boeing’s $2.38 Billion F-15EX Order Expands Backlog to 98 Fighters
Boeing now has 120 F-15EX Eagle II fighters under contract for the U.S. Air Force, but only 22 have been…
Air Force Says U.S. Has Fielded Secret Weapons in Orbit
The United States has already fielded weapons in orbit, according to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, but the government is…
U.S. Air Force Makes Drone and Missile Base Defense a Core Mission
Air Force bases can no longer be treated as protected sanctuaries while aircraft and personnel prepare for operations. The U.S….
F-16 Pilot Leaves Hospital as Air Force Investigates Germany Crash
The pilot of a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon that crashed while returning from training in Germany sustained minor…
Air Force Accelerates Nearly $2 Billion in Ellsworth B-21 Upgrades
Nearly $2 billion is being spent to prepare Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota for the B-21 Raider and…
U.S. Air Force’s $14 Billion Parts Gap Leaves 87% More Aircraft Unavailable
The U.S. Air Force has identified a $14 billion aircraft-parts gap, while the number of aircraft unavailable because of supply…
Air Force Studies C-17 Restart That Could Cost Billions Before Delivery
The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III remains valuable because it combines heavy-cargo capacity with access to relatively short or rough airfields….
Air Force Studies Reviving Boeing C-17 Production Versus Building New Airlifter
The U.S. Air Force has moved a once-speculative idea into a formal procurement study: whether Boeing can restart production of…