The U.S. Air Force (USAF) will move to decommission 17 of its 62 B-1B Lancer bombers to pave the way for fleet modernization efforts and help maintainers focus more on each of the remaining 45 aircraft. USAF said it will keep four of the B-1B planes that are set for retirement in Type 2000 storage to maintain aircraft systems in a reclaimable condition.
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The U.S. Air Force intends to reactivate the squadron that performed the pre-operational tests of the B-2 Spirit aircraft to support the flight test phase for the military service's future B-21 Raider bomber plane. B-21 prime contractor Northrop Grumman is building the test aircraft at a production facility in Palmdale, Calif., the Air Force said Monday.
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President Donald Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. Timothy Ray, deputy commander of the U.S. European Command, to be the next leader of the Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale AF Base in Louisiana. The Defense Department said Thursday that Ray is also up for a potential rank promotion to general. If confirmed, he would …
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The U.S. Air Force has detailed its plans to update its existing bomber fleet and acquire new aircraft in the fiscal year 2019 budget request. The military branch said Monday it aims to modernize the B-52 Stratofortress fleet; continue installing upgrades on the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft; and acquire the future …
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Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements at the U.S. Air Force, has told lawmakers that the service branch wants to have 165 aircraft in its future bomber fleet, DoD Buzz reported Monday. Members of the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee asked Harris …
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Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said the Defense Department needs to avoid sequestration in order to fund critical investments amid the five global challenges the U.S. currently faces, DoD News reported Thursday. Lisa Ferdinando writes Carter cited terrorism, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as the strategic challenges that direct …
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The Defense Department is seeking about $523.9 billion in base budget for fiscal 2017 and another $58.8 billion to fund overseas contingency operations, Defense News reported Tuesday. Andrew Clevenger writes DoD’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget of $582.7 billion represents a 0.4-percent increase from fiscal 2016’s enacted $580.3 billion budget. The budget includes $7.5 billion to finance operations against …
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Outgoing Air Force acquisition chief William LaPlante has said the branch’s program managers always look for ways to balance scheduling and budgeting strategies when the military service develops or procures technology, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday. LaPlante is due to leave the Air Force this week and will rejoin Mitre to serve …
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The U.S. Air Force has begun to adopt some of the lessons learned from the Long Range Strike Bomber program in an effort to promote best practices and achieve efficiency in the acquisition process, Defense News reported Sunday. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, head of the Air Force Materiel Command, said the service …
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The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved its version of a fiscal year 2016 defense spending bill that would fund the acquisition of 12 F/A-18 Super Hornet jets from Boeing and six F-35 planes from Lockheed Martin, Reuters reported Thursday. Andrea Shalal writes the bill would give $1.2 billion to the U.S. Navy for the Super Hornets and …
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Executive Gov
