Posts Tagged air force

Whistleblower: Lower Standards For Women In Military

From The Federalist:

The female captain dropped out of physically demanding combat controller course exercises several times, but unlike male trainees with similar difficulties, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) officials kept extending special concessions to keep her in the program.

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Republic of China (Taiwan) Upgrading Its F-16 Fleet

From The War Zone:

Originally, the ROCAF expected to receive 144 F-16Vs, which are conversions of its existing F-16A/B jets, but this number has since been reduced to 141 through attrition in its existing Viper fleet. Lockheed Martin upgraded the first two ROCAF F-16Vs, the first of which took to the air in October 2015, and these served as pattern aircraft for Taiwan’s Aerospace Industry Development Center (AIDC) to complete the remaining upgrades locally.

Work to retrofit the whole fleet is due for completion by the end of 2023. The next wing to be equipped with the upgraded jets will be the 5th TFW at Hualien Air Base on the northeast coast. While the F-16V name is applied almost universally to these aircraft, AIDC still confusingly refers to them as F-16A/B Block 20 MLUs.

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Military Purges Are How Fascists Start

From The Federalist:

The American people need to fully understand how dangerous a precedent this administration is setting for the country. It is not just part of the continuing Biden purge of anything Trump touched, although it is that. It is part of the political left’s relentless drive to force political conformity in thought, word, and deed on all segments of society, including the military.

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Silver Star Awarded To Airman

From AirForce Times:

Tech. Sgt. Cam Kelsch, a tactical air control party airman assigned to the 17th Special Tactics Squadron at Hunter, will be awarded the nation’s third highest medal for gallantry in combat.

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Medal Of Honor To Be Given For Actions In 2002

From Military Times:

The U.S. Air Force has released video highlights from an overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft taken on March 4, 2002 that shows the final heroic moments of Tech Sgt. John Chapman, who will receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery later this month.

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New AC-130J Could Have Laser Weapons

From Guns.com

While some older versions of the AC-130 carried 20mm and 7.62mm guns, as well as 40mm cannon, Ghostrider packs a 30mm cannon and a 105mm howitzer. Some are planned to be equipped with a high-energy laser.

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Army Awards Contract To Aimpoint

From The Daily Caller:

Aimpoint, the worldwide leader in reflex sight technology, has been awarded a contract for supply of 30,000 M68 Close Combat Optics (M68CCO) to the U.S. Army. The Aimpoint CompM4s sight is type-classified as the M68CCO when used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. These sights will be supplied with a killFlash® anti-reflection device, rubber lens covers, and adapters which allow the sights to be deployed on all versions of the M16 rifle, M4 Carbine, and light machineguns such as the M240 and M249.

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F-35 Can’t Fly Near Storms

From Defense Aerospace:

“It is well documented that the F-35A aircraft requires modifications for lightning protection and these modifications have not yet been completed on the two visiting Australian aircraft,” the RAAF said in a March 4 statement posted on its website.

The F-35’s continued inability to fly near thunderstorms, like its inability to take off in fog that was revealed during its six-day ferry flight to Israel in December, shows it is still severely limited in adverse-weather operations, 16 years into its development and 11 years since its first flight.

It also contradicts recent statements by senior Australian ministers, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who for example claimed “The F-35A is the most advanced fighter in the world,” while Defence Minister Senator Marise Payne said “The F-35A will provide the Air Force with the ability to execute air combat missions which were previously beyond our scope.”

This is terribly ironic since the aircraft’s referred to as the Lightning II.

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First AWACS With Digital Intstruments

From Defense Media:

Boeing delivered the first of 14 E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft with cockpit upgrades to NATO earlier this week.

The Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) digital flight deck and avionics enhancements bring the aircraft into compliance with current and future air traffic control and navigation requirements along with other upgrades, and allows the flight crew to be reduced by one.

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Boeing/Saab Release New Trainer

From CBS St. Louis:

Boeing has worked with Saab on the design, which the companies say “takes advantage of the latest technologies, tools and manufacturing techniques and is designed to evolve as technologies, missions and training needs change.”

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Scorpion To Be Tested By Air Force

From Flight Global:

Textron and the air force signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA), allowing the service for the first time to certificate the aircraft’s airworthiness in the absence of a programme of record, according to a 15 July news release.

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B52s To Start Bombing ISIS

From AirForce Times:

The deployment marks the first time the Air Force will use the Cold War-era warplanes — from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana — in the counter-ISIS fight in Iraq and Syria. The service did not disclose the exact number of bombers it deployed.

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Pentagon May Have Violated Posse Comitatus With Drones

From USA Today:

The report by a Pentagon inspector general, made public under a Freedom of Information Act request, said spy drones on non-military missions have occurred fewer than 20 times between 2006 and 2015 and always in compliance with existing law.

The inspector general analysis was completed March 20, 2015, but not released publicly until last Friday.

It said that with advancements in drone technology along with widespread military use overseas, the Pentagon established interim guidance in 2006 governing when and whether the unmanned aircraft could be used domestically. The interim policy allowed spy drones to be used for homeland defense purposes in the U.S. and to assist civil authorities.

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Air Force Allowing Carrying of Duty Weapons on Base

From NRA-ILA:

In response to the terrorist attack on military facilities in Chattanooga last year, the Air Force has reminded base commanders that they can authorize personnel to carry weapons on-duty and off-duty, and has established armed personnel programs to increase base security. Fox News reports, “the Unit Marshal Program enables commanders at every level to work with security forces to train Air Force members and allow them to open carry their [Beretta] M9 service pistol at their duty location. The Security Forces Staff Arming program enables more security officers to carry a government-issued weapon while on duty.”

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New Air Force One Deal

From The New York Times:

The Defense Department hopes to sign an initial contract with Boeing in the coming weeks to begin the long process of assembling a new presidential aircraft capable of ferrying the commander in chief around the world with the capacity to run a war from midair if necessary. Built on the frame of a Boeing 747-8, it will be bigger, more powerful, able to fly farther and vastly more advanced technologically than the current customized Boeing 747-200B jumbo jet.

“It’s way overdue,” said Joseph W. Hagin, a White House deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush who initiated plans for a new plane only to see them shelved when the nation’s finances grew precarious. “You can hang new engines on it, you can cram all sorts of new technology on it, but it’s still a very old airplane.”

 

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