U.S. Air Force (USAF)

By Brian Everstine
Following multiple failed attempts, the agency says airborne laser technology has evolved enough to deserve another shot.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
EpiSci and PhysicsAI are the first contractors selected for a DARPA program to develop software to enable beyond-visual-range engagement with multiple aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
When a potential adversary’s radar picks up numerous cruise missiles, each target needs to be tracked and treated as a threat. The targets need “Respect.”
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
Autonomous flight system startup Merlin Labs has won a contract potentially worth $105 million to demonstrate a reduced aircrew capability for SOCOM C-130Js.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Brian Everstine
The Missile Defense Agency will soon deliver new radars to Guam ahead of planned large-scale tests of its new ballistic missile defense architecture.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
Boeing on June 6 delivered the first operational F-15EX Eagle II to the U.S. Air National Guard.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
Scaled Composites, which has built and flown a new aircraft roughly every year since forming in 1982, is still expanding in its 17th year with Northrop Grumman.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
An Air Force F-15 pilot failed to engage the emergency braking/steering system during an emergency landing, causing the Eagle to crash into an irrigation canal.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Vivienne Machi
The House Appropriations Committee plans to allocate billions of dollars to fund missile-warning-and-tracking initiatives in its fiscal 2025 bill.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force conducted the first of two planned intercontinental ballistic missile tests this week—firing a Minuteman III with one reentry vehicle.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
House appropriators want to cut the administration’s planned military procurement and operations spending, to allow for more R&D and personnel spending.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Joby Aviation has acquired the autonomy division of Xwing, a U.S. startup developing a modular autonomous flight system for aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Steve Trimble
With the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the head of Lockheed Martin’s advanced development arm challenges U.S. Air Force planners and competitors.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Vivienne Machi
DIU is interested in partnerships with companies building radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened microelectronics.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The life expectancy of a future Collaborative Combat Aircraft is not a trivial question.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
DIU announced June 3 that it has awarded contracts to Anduril, Integrated Solutions for Systems Inc., Leidos Dynetics and Zone 5 Technologies.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Brian Everstine
Boeing on May 31 resumed delivering KC-46 tankers to the U.S. Air Force following an almost three-month pause.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) has confirmed that the Lockheed Martin F-35B that crashed in New Mexico on May 28 was a development test aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Sierra Nevada is starting work on the Air Force’s E-4B replacement and outlining teammates.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
An aircraft resembling a Lockheed Martin F-35 crashed on May 28 at 2 p.m. local time in New Mexico.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Inspection revealed broken part in tanker’s refueling boom, prompting inspections and two-month delay.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force has not taken delivery of KC-46 tankers from Boeing in more than two months.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Brian Everstine, Guy Norris
The U.S. Air Force has shown the Northrop Grumman B-21 in flight for the first time.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force is reportedly looking to pre-position bombers across the Indo-Pacific.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The Survivable Airborne Operations Center award was a major coup for SNC, which for decades has focused on smaller commercial-derivative modificationprograms.
Aircraft & Propulsion