U.S. Air Force (USAF)

By Brian Everstine, Steve Trimble
President-elect Donald Trump is poised to nominate Troy Meink, the principal deputy director of the NRO, to be the next secretary of the Air Force, Aviation Week has learned.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
Boeing F-15s are getting anti-ship standoff weapons as the Air Force looks to use machine learning to improve tracking of targets at sea.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Robert Wall
A raid in Yemen inaugurates a new era in U.S. battlefield airborne electronic attack that may be defined by 50 years of continuous evolution.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Robert Wall
The Department of the Air Force, in a report released Jan. 13 that looks at its future, paints a picture of space as becoming a cold or potentially hot battlefield.
Budget, Policy & Regulation

By Brian Everstine
The service announced Jan. 15 that it will buy four production representative test vehicles (PRTV) with fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Brian Everstine
Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer turned Fox News host, has turned into one of the more controversial nominations by Trump ahead of next week’s inauguration.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
The leader of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force in 25 years will have some new tools.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
A key theme throughout the 22-page report is that the Air Force is increasingly vulnerable to long-range precision attack.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
Service Secretary Frank Kendall in July 2024 paused the development of the Next Generation Air Dominance’s penetrating counter air fighter.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
As AI-based weapon systems move into the mainstream, several programs seek to evolve autonomy software to orchestrating complex strike missions.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Brian Everstine
With the Joint Strike Fighter’s Technology Refresh 3 software expected to be cleared for combat this year, Pentagon officials are pressing for more progress.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
LRASM is already integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s B-1B Lancer and the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
Missile Defense & Weapons

Aviation Week Staff
Honoring innovators, achievements and leadership, the winners have made impressive contributions in five industry sectors.
Aviation Week & Space Technology

By Brian Everstine
Kendall took over as the service’s top civilian in 2021 and will leave office in the next few weeks.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
Quantum entanglement is perhaps a fitting metaphor for the NGAD Platform.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Matthew Fulco
Govini estimates that more than 20,000 individual parts used by the Pentagon are impacted by the export controls, affecting more than 1,000 weapons systems.
Supply Chain

By Vivienne Machi
Donald Trump is reentering the White House as the U.S. faces an expanded threat environment in the space domain.
Budget, Policy & Regulation

By Brian Everstine
Kendall announced in July that the service had paused NGAD ahead of an imminent contract award.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed Martin reached a handshake agreement in November for F-35 production lots 18 and 19.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
The move follows the completion of a critical design review that clears the way for final development, test, and production efforts to proceed.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Milestones loom in the coming months for future refueler and airlifter programs amid funding uncertainty.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
Steve Parker says the manufacturer needs to focus on execution amid cost overruns and address the root causes of issues on production lines.
Supply Chain

By Matthew Jouppi
The Aviation Week Intelligence Network is tracking $193 billion in open opportunities for military aircraft over the next decade.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Quantum computing challenge winners; Electric aircraft familiarization; Large cargo eVTOL; Zero-emission test arena.
Emerging Technologies

By Garrett Reim
AFWERX does not have any specific requirements, a program of record, or impending contracts for hybrid eVTOLs.
Aircraft & Propulsion