She didn’t have a smudge on her. Not a leak found anywhere. She even had that “new jet smell.” Skies were blue, everything was perfect. Those were the conditions on that July day in 2011 when Lt. Col. Eric Smith took off from the Lockheed facilities at Fort Worth, Texas, within the first operational F-35 to fly to its permanent home at Eglin Air Force Base, within the Florida panhandle. And the remainder, based on Smith, who would go directly to pick up three of the primary six F-35s from the factory, is history. “It was only a great day... Read More »

The QF-16 full scale aerial target’s inaugural unmanned flight occurred Sept. 19. The 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron and Boeing Co. conducted the flight, that’s step one in a two year process to phase out the QF-4 full scale aerial target. “The QF-4 did an awesome job for decades, but it’s time to show the page within the aerial target program. This program will bring us into the 4th generation aircraft,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Inman, the 82nd ATRS commander. “And will provide us with a mission capable, very sustainable aerial target to take us into the subsequent 10 to twenty... Read More »

Two of the 3 vehicles within the Army’s “Ultra Light Vehicle” program have now entered survivability testing in Nevada and Maryland, to assess both their blast and ballistic protection capability. The third vehicle remains on the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, called TARDEC, for testing there. The TARDEC began development of 3 Ultra Light Vehicles, or ULVs, in fall 2011, on the request of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. While the ULV isn’t fielded as a combat vehicle, it does function a research and development platform with a view to ultimately yield data that may... Read More »

Soldiers from United states of america Army Pacific, Hawaii Army National Guard and military Corps of Engineers including representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency participated with the People’s Liberation Army in a Disaster Management Exchange, Nov. 12 -14 at Marine Corps Training Area-Bellows, Hawaii. The 2013 DME is a topic matter expert exchange inquisitive about a global Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operation. The highlight of the DME was a sensible Field Exchange Nov. 14. There has been also Expert Academic Discussions, in response to a world humanitarian and disaster relief scenario calling for U.S. and Chinese military cooperation... Read More »

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE: The B-52 Stratofortress is determined to receive an upgrade that may significantly increase its weapons payload, officials said. The initial 1760 Internal Weapons Bay Upgrade will allow the B-52 to accommodate as much as eight advanced precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions in its internal weapons bay, besides the 12 it could possibly currently stick with it exterior weapons pylons. “It increases the B-52′s overall carrying capacity by 67 percent,” said Alan Williams, the B-52 Deputy Program element monitor at Air Force Global Strike Command. The 1760 IWBU is predicated on rewiring the prevailing B-52 launcher right... Read More »