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As a combat pilot, Air Force Col. Jack Broughton was celebrated for bravery and tactical brilliance during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He received promotions and important assignments and seemed headed to become a general. But a high-profile court-martial during the Vietnam War for allegedly violating the rules of engagement that ruled certain targets off limits ended his career. After leaving the Air Force, Broughton was free to speak out about what he saw as the incompetence of President Lyndon Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in micromanaging the war. Pilots couldn't bomb an enemy outhouse without their approval, Broughton...

For decades, the Pentagon has been toying with the idea of upgrading the B-52 bomber, first built in the mid-1950s. Will they finally get around to it, this time? The U.S. Air Force is taking a serious look at overhauling the nearly 60 year-old B-52 bomber—including a new engine for the ancient plane. The question is not whether it makes sense, but why it hasn’t been done before. The answers include poor planning, budgetary procedures that defied economic logic, and at least one bone-headed accounting error. The B-52 first entered service in the mid-1950s. Putting new engines on the “Buff,”...

Outgunned by the Su-30 family of aircraft and suffering critical design flaws, the American F-35 is staring down the barrel of obsolescence – and punching a gaping hole in western air defences. Built to be the deadliest hunter killer aircraft of all time, the F-35 has quite literally become the hunted. In every scenario that the F-35 has been wargamed against Su-30 Flankers, the Russian aircraft have emerged winners. America’s newest stealth aircraft – costing $191 million per unit – is riddled with such critical design flaws that it’s likely to get blown away in a shootout with the super-maneuverable...

Arab and other allied countries have carried out only around 10 per cent of the nearly 2,000 air raids against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria since early August, US defence officials said on Monday. US warplanes have conducted 1,768 air strikes since August 8, while other coalition aircraft have carried about 195 air raids against the IS jihadists, defence officials said, citing a tally through to Sunday. The numbers, which for the first time shed light on the participation of Arab coalition partners, reflect the dominant role of the US military in the air campaign. But Pentagon...

Last week, when I was being shown around Embraer's new U.S.-assembled A-29 Super Tucano with a group of journalists, the first thing that caught my eye was a big covered something sticking out of each wing. In an age of remote control drones and smart bombs, that couldn't possibly be a machine gun, could it? It sure enough was said our Embraer guide. The A29, in a throwback to the days of mano a mano air combat, has a single .50 caliber gun in each wing, although not the same Browning model used in just about every U.S.-made aircraft that...

The first A29 Super Tucano manufactured in the United States made its debut today in a ceremony at the Embraer facility at Jacksonville International Airport. The light air support defense plane, contracted by the U.S. Air Force from Sierra Nevada Corp. and built by Brazilian-based Embraer, has passed its military certifications and was officially approved for use by the Air Force. The Afghan National Army for light air support will eventually use the plane. "The capability speaks for itself," said Taco Gilbert, vice president of the Sierra Nevada Corp. "It's gotten its air worthiness approval, which is a stamp of...

Two U.S. jets intercepted six Russian planes that neared U.S. airspace off Alaska on Thursday and Canadian planes intercepted two Russian bombers that approached Canadian airspace, NORAD reported. A U.S. official told CNN's Barbara Starr that officials in Washington think the incidents were related to the visit by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who talked to Canadian officials Wednesday and President Barack Obama on Thursday. The United States promised Ukraine $46 million in nonlethal aid for its battle with pro-Russian militants. The Russian aircraft flew within about 55 nautical miles of the Alaskan coastline and about 40 nautical miles of the...

Boeing Co. BA +0.48% , which has built military planes for almost a century, is preparing for the prospect of a fighter-less future. The steadfast commitment of the U.S. and many allies to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program made by Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT +0.60% is drying up funding for Boeing's fighters. Now, the head of Boeing's defense unit is preparing a road map that would concede the fighter market to Lockheed and pin the business's future on other aircraft, including military versions of its commercial jetliners. "You have to face reality," Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing, Defense, Space...

WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Europe's Airbus said on Thursday that it sees the possibility of selling hundreds of its A400M military transport plane to the U.S. military in the medium to long term. Barry Eccleston, president of Airbus Americas Inc, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit that the company was focused on securing additional orders for the UH-72 helicopter that it builds in Mississippi in the short term, but its "next big project" would be focused on marketing the A400M. "There's this incredible airplane that can do just about everything," Eccleston said, noting that Airbus saw possible sales...

... Larry received his wings and commission in the U.S Air Force in 1943. During WWII, he saw service in North Africa, Italy and China. He was recalled again for the Korean War. He was later assigned to the Philippines, Japan, and Okinawa. Major Guarino was flying combat missions in Southeast Asia in early 1965 when he was shot down and forced to eject over North Vietnam. He was captured and taken as prisoner of war, spending the next 2,801 days in captivity. Colonel Guarino was released on February 12, 1973. He was awarded the nation's second highest award, the...

Deaf and severely hearing impaired individuals could soon serve in the Air Force if legislation introduced in July by a California lawmaker is passed. An Air Force captain convinced U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, D-California, to introduce a bill that would allow deaf and hearing impaired people to serve in the Air Force as part of a pilot or demonstration program. Current Defense Department hearing requirements bar the deaf from serving, as well as individuals who currently require or previously used a hearing aid, or have a cochlear ear implant.

Aleksandra's Note: ...Lt. Col. Milton Friend of the USAF, a Halyard Mission veteran that I met in person in Chicago in 1994 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Halyard Mission Rescue Operation, got in touch with me in 2009. I had wondered if he was still living. Indeed he was, and he had a story to tell. When I searched for him on the internet, I discovered that he was not featured anywhere that I could find. I told him that his story needs to be made public and be given wide exposure, and it is my absolute pleasure...

WASHINGTON — The Air Force is about to put a new advanced satellite into space to spy on other countries’ satellites. On Wednesday, a Delta IV rocket will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., and place two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites into orbit. They will be the first GSSAP satellites ever launched. “This neighborhood watch twosome … will be on the lookout for nefarious capability other nations might try to place in that critical orbital regime,” Gen. William Shelton, the head of Air Force Space Command, told reporters at the Pentagon. Because of its enhanced maneuvering capabilities,...

The White House has picked the first female general to head the Air Force in the Pacific, which will make her the first non-pilot to command air power in such a large theater of operation. The Pentagon announced this week that Air ForceLt. Gen. Lori J. Robinson has been nominated for promotion to four-star general and as commander of Pacific Air Forces, the Air Force component of U.S. Pacific Command. It is a major combatant command whose air, ground and naval forces have broad responsibility for security in the Asia-Pacific region. Her nomination was sent to the Senate for confirmation....

The military on Thursday said it had grounded the entire fleet of Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets until completion of additional inspections of the warplane's single engine built by Pratt & Whitney. The Pentagon's F-35 program office, Air Force and Navy issued directives on Thursday ordering the suspension of all F-35 flights after a June 23 fire on an Air Force F-35A jet at a Florida air base, according to statements by the Pentagon and the F-35 program office. The Pentagon said U.S. and industry officials had not been able to pinpoint the cause of the fire, which occurred...

In what was one of the most outrageous Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) opportunities of the decade, and the first time the F-22 Raptor made a SE Asia international exercise appearance, Cope Taufan brought the US and Malaysian air arms closer together in a wonderfully aggressive manner. Cope Taufan is a biennial exercise between Malaysia and the US, and it has grown over the past few evolutions to become one of the premier multinational air combat exercises in the hemisphere. For 2014, America's most capable air-to-air fighters were deployed to take part, and sending the Raptor to Malaysia fired a...

Northrop Grumman Corp has won a five-year contract valued at up to $9.9 billion from the U.S. Air Force to modernize and support the B-2 stealth bomber, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday. The Air Force is going to make sure everyone’s favorite bat-winged bomber stays stealth through 2058. The B-2 Spirit will be included in upcoming modernization planning being conducted by the Pentagon. Northrop Grumman has a contract with the Pentagon to complete a massive upgrade on the nuclear bomber. Its $9.9 billion contract will include new computer processors, avionics, radar warning receivers and communications gear, the defense website military.com...

As hardcore Islamic maniacs close in on Baghdad, Iran puts the finishing touches on its nuclear weaponry, Russia annexes its neighbors, and communist China flexes its muscles, this story from Albuquerque gives an idea of what Commander in Chief Barack Hussein Obama has our troops doing: Kirtland Air Force Base will celebrate their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender members at a Thursday picnic. … Kirtland is embracing the LGBT community in a historic way. For the first time ever, the base will host a pride picnic on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Millennium Park. Nature abhors a...

On Thursday, Kirtland Air Force Base will host an event that just three years ago could have cost many airmen their careers – the first-ever Team Kirtland LGBT Pride Picnic. “The significance of this event is, for me, the normalization of us (the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community) as part of the Air Force community,” said David Hardy, the civilian director of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland and head of the event’s coordinating committee. “I like seeing that, finally, openly, it is recognized that the LGBT community is part of the Air Force family.”...

The U.S. House on Thursday overwhelmingly adopted an amendment to the 2015 defense appropriation bill that would prohibit the Pentagon from spending any money to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II jet — a mainstay of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. But the fate of the venerated “Warthog” close-air-support jet remains far from certain, as the Senate still must act, and the issue will likely be hammered out in conference committee. The amendment’s bipartisan adoption was a victory for Rep. Ron Barber, a Tucson Democrat, and other A-10 supporters, who were chagrined when the House Appropriations Committee left A-10 funding out of...