U.S. Air Force (USAF)

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force’s training command is set to start flying and maintaining the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk as it builds the initial, small fleet.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Aviation Week Staff
Readers write about U.S.-China space cooperation, U.S. Air Force airlifters, opinions and China’s plans for Taiwan.
Aviation Week & Space Technology

By Brian Everstine
Northrop Grumman will provide the autonomy software for the U.S. Marine Corps first loyal wingman uncrewed system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force is reshaping its acquisition program leadership under direction from top Pentagon leadership.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
Boeing has resumed F-15EX deliveries quickly after the end of a 15-week strike—but budget data shows the U.S. Air Force program is well behind schedule.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force has outlined two new updates to its Boeing C-17 airlifter fleet
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Vivienne Machi
As 2025 draws to an end, the Resilient-GPS program “doesn’t have a future fate,” one contractor says.
Satellites

By Steve Trimble
Six years have passed since Northrop Grumman won an opportunity to upgrade the system on the U.S. Air Force fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Garrett Reim
Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace of Norway plans to acquire Zone 5 Technologies, a U.S. maker of low-cost cruise missiles.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
A radar upgrade for the X-62 autonomous fighter will allow the U.S. Air Force to experiment with AI-enabled “pilots” controlling sensors in combat.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble, Brian Everstine, Tony Osborne, Robert Wall
A new U.S. strategy recalibrates global security posture from foreign intervention to homeland protection.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
A key piece of the future nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) enterprise will kick off next month with a classified briefing to industry.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The USAF is buying two Boeing 747-8is from Lufthansa for training and spares as part of the delayed program to replace the current VC-25A “Air Force One” fleet.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
Momentum has slowed for the U.S. Air Force EA-37B Compass Call.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Vivienne Machi
Service leaders say the U.S. is at a critical moment to keep ahead of adversaries in space tech development.
Budget, Policy & Regulation

By Vivienne Machi
Officials says the Department of the Air Force is moving quickly to award multiple competitive contracts for space-based moving target indication assets.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Brian Everstine
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force now expect delivery of the next Air Force One in mid-2028.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A market survey shows the U.S. Air Force is close to launching development of a new version of the Lockheed Martin C-130J for the arctic mission.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force flight test community received the first Boeing B-52 equipped with the RTX APQ-188 radar and related systems.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force has moved to eventually reacquire the ability to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles from a new fleet of airborne command posts.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Guy Norris
Beehive says Frenzy test results for performance, ignition at altitude, operability, and durability “met or exceeded challenging Air Force requirements.”
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites on Dec. 3 unveiled Project Talon, the company’s latest design of an uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber returned to operational status four years after it was grounded in 2021, following a gear collapse upon landing.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
SpaceX has been cleared to develop Cape Canaveral SFS’ Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship-Super Heavy launch and landing operations.
Operations & Safety