The US Air Force’s secretive space plane, the X-37B, will reportedly launch yet again on a “test” sortie to prove its utility and cost-effectiveness.
Two prior sorties have put the two test vehicles in space for months on undisclosed missions.
The X-37 is a program run by the Rapid Capabilities Office.
The US Air Force Academy recently hosted its annual Falcon Heritage Forum, focusing on “moral courage in the midst of difficult decisions in the active-duty Air Force.”
“It is was a great opportunity for cadets to interact with young company grade officers who aren’t much further ahead of them and where cadets could get a perspective on what these officers deal with on a day to day basis,” said Cadet 1st Class Nicholas Espinoza, Cadet Wing character officer.
“Having the courage to make hard decisions is Read more
The Air Force has reportedly concluded the May 2012 loss of an F-15E in “Southwest Asia” was due to an engine malfunction.
The right engine caught on fire due to a “rare ignition of the titanium components within the engine,” according to the investigation, which was released by Air Combat Command on Wednesday. Investigators could not determine what sparked the fire.
Both crewmembers successfully ejected.
The Stars and Stripes repeated a Las Vegas Sun article highlighting Nellis AFB Airmen who feed the homeless through a local ministry on a regular basis:
The airmen and ministry’s tables are crowded with hardboiled eggs, pizza, hot dogs, salad, chili mac, bread, turkey-and-cheese sandwiches and water. McShane blesses the food, and Read more
Olympic gold medalist in soccer Abby Wambach recently received a flight in an F-15 Eagle, courtesy of the Air National Guard in Montana.
“She was in the back seat, flying with Lt. Col. Larry Gardner, and she got to see some of the physical demands it takes to be a fighter pilot,” [Maj Cody] Smith said.
She also spoke to troops on diversity, encouragement, and “empowerment of women in the military.”
September 18th is the 65th anniversary of the founding of the US Air Force, as it separated from the Army, where it was the US Army Air Forces, and became its own service.
From the signing of the National Security Act of 1947, to the F-117 Nighthawk launching in 1981 and the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles of today, the Air Force has seen Read more
In 2009 the Air Force conducted beta classes in which it trained officers who had not previously been pilots to be UAV operators. (It also created new “wings” for the RPA pilots and granted them flight pay.) Earlier this year, the first non-pilots graduated into the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a keyboard-operated UAV.
Now, the first non-prior pilots have graduated to become MQ-9 Reaper operators:
This marks the first time a student pilot Read more
While some question the stability — and the political alliances — of their government back home, a group of Iraqi pilots has become the first to begin training in US F-16s:
Two Iraqis have joined aspiring fighter pilots from the United States, Singapore, Poland, Denmark, Japan and the Netherlands at the U.S. Air Force’s international F-16 schoolhouse at Tucson International Airport.
A “senior delegation” recently visited to “assess their students’ progress.”
Iraq is reportedly expecting to receive F-16s in 2014.