BREAKING:
@POTUS
on Dec. 20 established the US
#SpaceForce
as Americaβs sixth military service, one of the most significant changes in
@usairforce
history and a milestone in Americaβs exploration and militarization of the cosmos. Read more at .
π£ππ’π§π’π¦: B-2 Bombers Land on Guam for First Time in 5 Years
Multiple B-2 bombers flew to the Pacific last week to participate in a large-scale joint exercise around Guam, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
ππ₯πππππ‘π: Air Force Releases First Official Photos of B-21 in Flight
According to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, the photo of the B-21 taking off is from January, while the photos of it in flight and in a hangar are from early April.
Two
@usairforce
B-1B Lancers on May 29 flew another long-range bomber task force flight to Eastern Europe, integrating with Ukrainian fighter jets & Turkish KC-135s for the first time, plus multiple other allied nations. Read more at .
#AvGeek
#aviation
An F-22 pilot took off with incorrect data and prematurely retracted the aircraftβs landing gear during a training flight in April at NAS Fallon, Nev., causing the aircraft to land on its belly and skid to a stop,
#USAF
announced. Read more:
#FighterFriday
The first 747-8 aircraft has begun the modification process to become a VC-25B, or the next Air Force One. Read more at . (Artist rendering via
@Boeing
)
#aviation
#AvGeek
The Department of the Air Force has submitted a $4.2B unfunded priorities list to Congress for fiscal 2021, which includes roughly $3.2B for the
@usairforce
and $1 billion for the fledgling
@SpaceForceDoD
. Read more at .
#defense
#space
#AvGeek
U.S. and European allies will conduct a massive air exercise in
#Germany
this June on a scale unseen since the end of the Cold War,
#military
officials said.
BREAKING: Defense Secretary
@EsperDoD
will take questions from airmen in his first major address as secretary to members of the
#USAF
community Sept. 18 at the
@AirForceAssoc
βs 2019 Air, Space & Cyber Conference. Read more at .
#ASC19
BREAKING:
#AirForce
Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson says the first B-21 bomber flight will be 863 days from today. He has a countdown feature on his phone. That makes it around May 13, 2021. The aircraft is being developed in secrecy by
#USAF
's Rapid Capabilities Office.
The
@AirForceAssoc
βs 2019 Air, Space & Cyber Conference brings together
#USAF
, industry, academia, & more in the biggest, best Air Force professional development event of the year Sept. 16-18 in National Harbor, Md. Here are 5 things not to miss at
#ASC19
:
Two of the
@usairforce
's 3 bombers flew simultaneous long-range missions across the Indo-Pacific on Aug. 17, with 2 sets of B-1s training alongside Japanese fighters &
@USNavy
ships, while B-2s flew their own training mission in the Indian Ocean:
#aviation
THIS JUST IN:
@usairforce
to Test Fighter Drone Against Human Pilot | USAF researchers are designing an autonomous aircraft that can take down a manned plane in air-to-air combat, with the goal of pitting the two against each other next July:
#AvGeek
An undisclosed number of
#USAF
B-2 stealth bombers touched down March 9 at Lajes Field in Portugal for the latest bomber task force deployment to Europe. Read more at .
#AvGeek
Over 5,200 Active Duty soldiers will deploy to the US-Mexico border as part of Operation Faithful Patriot, in support of
@CBP
efforts to secure the boundary as caravans of would-be immigrants from Central America approach the US, the head of NORTHCOM said:
Several
@usairforce
and United Kingdom
@RoyalAirForce
aircraft on Friday flew over the site of a 1944 B-17G crash in Sheffield, England, thanks to decades of work by a local man who was a boy when he saw the Flying Fortress go down. Read more at .
Two B-2s linked up with Norwegian F-35s north of the Arctic Circle on June 18 to demonstrate long-range strategic integration, as the
@usairforce
is set to release a new strategy on how it will operate in the Arctic, the head of
@HQUSAFEAFAF
said:
#AvGeek
Gen. Stephen W. βSeveβ Wilson retired Nov. 13 after 39 years of service, ending his tenure as the
@usairforce
βs longest-serving vice chief of staff. Read more at .
#defense
#aviation
#AvGeek
BREAKING NEWS FROM
#ASC19
:
@Raytheon
is developing the "Peregrine," a new medium-range air-to-air missile that is half the size of current dogfight missiles but offers greater speed and longer range. Read more at .
#AvGeek
An attempt by
@DARPA
and the
@usairforce
to fly the first Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept experimental missile last week failed because of testing snafus, sources report.
NEW TONIGHT: The
@usairforce
will test a new fighter pilot training plan designed to fix deficiencies and reduce the time needed to transform a raw student pilot into a fighter flight lead from 40 to as few as 22 months. Read more at .
#defense
#AvGeek
.
@AETCommand
kicked off its KC-46 era on Friday as Altus AFB, Okla., accepted two of the new tankers for the serviceβs sole Pegasus training schoolhouse. Read more at .
#USAF
shouldn't retire any legacy bombers until B-21s are rolling off the assembly line in substantial numbers, and generally invest in longer-range systems and enablers like tankers, experts say. Read more at .
#AvGeek
Two jets from different eras, with different missions, strengths, and weaknesses, face off in a battle for todayβs funds. Find out how the F-35A and F-15EX stack up against each other at .
#avgeek
#aviation
THIS JUST IN:
#USAF
F-15Es and airmen from RAF Lakenheath, England, have touched down in Turkey to fly in the large Anatolian Eagle exercise there for the first time since 2015. Read more at .
NEWS ALERT: Congress green-lit a new Space Force in its joint fiscal 2020 defense policy bill, under a proposal that would elevate
@AFSpace
to become the Pentagonβs sixth military service under the Department of the Air Force. Read more at .
#AvGeek
#space
A new image from
@Boeing
shows how the B-52H will look after a series of modifications that the
@usairforce
has said are significant enough to warrant re-designating the aircraft as the B-52J or K.
#B52
.
@AFGlobalStrike
Commander Touts βClean-Sheetβ Arsenal Plane, Hypersonics, B-1 Recovery, End of Bomber Close Air Support | Read more at .
#aviation
#avgeek
.
@Boeing
on Thursday handed the keys over to two KC-46sβone more than originally plannedβduring a ceremony at its Everett, Wash., manufacturing facility, before the aircraft make their maiden flight to their first operating base on Friday. Read more at .
Two
@usairforce
B-1s deployed to the Pacific on July 17, flying intercept training with Japanese F-15Js before landing at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for the first time since May. Read more at .
#defense
#aviation
#AvGeek
Dyess or Ellsworth to Get First B-21s | The
@usairforce
will soon start studies assessing the environmental impact of basing the B-21 Raider at Dyess AFB, Texas, and Ellsworth AFB, S.D., the service announced March 6: .
#AvGeek
THIS JUST IN: TSgt. Daniel Keller, a combat controller in the Kentucky Air National Guardβs 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, will receive the Air Force Cross from Chief of Staff
@GenDaveGoldfein
tomorrow, a state ANG spokesman said. Read more at .
The unveiling of the new B-21
#bomber
was staged to keep many of its innovations under wraps, but more than 34 years of technological advances since the B-2βs 1988 rollout were clearly in evidence.
#b21raider
#B21
Some Air Force officials have said they'd like to get the B-21s built faster, both out of operational need and because the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter and Collaborative Combat Aircraft will eventually compete with the B-21 for production money.
.
@usairforce
B-1s and B-2s deployed to the Indo-Pacific came together to train with U.S. and Australian JTACs down under, dropping training bombs at three different training ranges throughout August. Read more at .
#defense
#aviation
#AvGeek
The
@usairforce
has officially delayed the KC-46βs full-rate production decision milestone until 2024 as the next-generation tanker works through problems plaguing its Remote Vision System, the service announced June 8. Read more at .
#aviation
#AvGeek
The first B-21 expected to fly is largely assembled and has moved to a calibration facility, in one of the last steps before powering systems and making final checks ahead of first flight, Rapid Capabilities Office Director Randall Walden reported.
#AWS22
The
@usairforce
announced April 17 it will no longer base strategic bombers outside of the continental U.S., marking an end to the serviceβs 16-year continuous bomber presence at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Read more at .
#USAF
#AvGeek
The
@usairforce
launched its search for the Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (
#NGAS
), a stealthy
#tanker
project intended to deliver its first
#aircraft
around 2040, with a recent request for information to industry.
98-year-old Otto took to the skies in a C-17 she riveted at March ARB, Calif., in a ceremonial flightβflown by
@AirMobilityCmd
's head Gen. Carlton Everhart | via
@beverstine