Air Force Magazine

The U.S. military struck three Iranian oil tankers on Sept. 5, as the Trump administration and Iran battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.  A mix of Air Force and Navy aircraft carried out the attacks using both fighters and drones, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The American strikes followed an unsuccessful Iranian ballistic missile attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Neither U.S. ship was hit. “Let the message to t

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas—The Air Force has started challenging new trainees with less sleep and will soon ramp up the stress level in Basic Military Training to better prepare the future Airmen for the increased strain of combat operations such as Epic Fury. The service’s 7.5 weeks of BMT already forced Airmen to endure the high stress of constant corrections, long hours of training, and sleep periods interrupted by guard duty. But in late August, BMT officials here began an

The Air Force is accelerating its plans to field an MQ-9A replacement in the wake of heavy Reaper losses in operations against Iran, top officials said Sept. 3, and they’re targeting a price point of just $10 million per aircraft. Back in July, the Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit announced plans to develop a low-cost drone to do all the missions that an MQ-9 can do today, and when necessary fly in groups to overwhelm an enemy’s anti-drone capabilities and force them to expend large

The U.S. is rotating fresh fighter squadrons to the Middle East to support the Trump administration’s open-ended pressure campaign against Iran. The move will free up units that have been based in the region far beyond the Air Force’s usual six-month deployments. More fighter unit rotations are expected in the coming weeks. Units on their way home include the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard, which flies F-35 Lightning II aircraft. F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 555th F

As U.S. allies look to establish sovereign military space launch capabilities, the Space Force is exploring ways to transfer lessons learned from its National Security Space Launch program to support its international partners. In a new notice to industry, issued Sept. 3, the service said it is exploring a specific type of foreign military sales agreement called a technical service case, which involves the U.S. sharing specialized expertise with a foreign partner. The Space Force did not name

An F-16 Air National Guard unit’s six-month deployment to Kadena Air Base, Japan, this year illustrated the capabilities the Guard’s oldest fighter units can still offer—but also the challenges they face, officials told reporters this week. On one hand, leaders said the Colorado ANG’s 120th Fighter Squadron was largely able to keep pace with its fifth-generation teammates and hone its Agile Combat Employment skills throughout the Pacific. But on the other, the squadron’s 1980s-era F-16s ar

The Air Force recently conducted a virtual stress test of its command-and-control capabilities, linking Air Operations Centers in New Mexico and the United Kingdom and forcing commanders to run personnel recovery and strikes under simulated fire. Between Aug. 4-7, the 705th Combat Training Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., hosted Virtual Flag 26-4, which included more than 267 participants from the Air Force, Space Force, Army, Marine Corps, United Kingdom, and Australia. “The fou

The last EC-130H Compass Call in the Air Force’s active inventory made its final flight Sept. 2, as the service prepares to retire the venerable electronic warfare aircraft and pivot to the new EA-37B. A spokesperson for the 55th Wing confirmed the event, often called a “fini flight,” to Air & Space Forces Magazine. A formal retirement ceremony for the aircraft will take place Sept. 18 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., where the last flight also took place. Aviation photographer

The Air Force has ruled the M18 service pistol is “safe and reliable” after inspecting more than 100,000 of the service’s 9mm pistols, according to a Sept. 2 announcement. Leaders ordered a force-wide inspection after a July 20, 2025, discharge of an M18 killed an on-duty security forces Airman at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. The death of 21-year-old Airman Brayden Lovan was originally believed to be “a result of an accidental discharge” and fueled safety concerns about the M18—a Sig-Saue

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md.—Gen. Douglas A. Schiess assumed leadership of the Space Force on Sept. 3, succeeding Gen. B. Chance Saltzman as Chief of Space Operations during a change of responsibility ceremony here.  Schiess is just the third CSO in the Space Force’s history since the service was created in 2019. In his first address to Guardians, he emphasized the important role space has come to play in modern military operations—and the growing threats it attracts from adversaries intent o

The base cost of an F-35A, the Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, is going up 11.5 percent from $82.5 million to $92 million for the latest lots of the fifth-generation aircraft, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed. A spokesperson for the F-35 Joint Program Office gave cost estimates for each F-35 variant, averaged across Lots 18 and 19, in current-year dollars. A recent Pentagon acquisition report gave the estimates in 2012 dollars, when the program was rebaselined. The

Just over a year ago, in July 2025, the Air Force established a dedicated office on the Air Staff for communications/cyber functions, separate from the intelligence directorate it had long been attached to. The new Warfighter Communications and Cyber Systems directorate now focuses on secure communications, cyber operations, and information technology systems as they support the frontline Airman or Guardian. The move, leaders said at the time, was a major shakeup necessary to support the serv

Inflation and rising costs for critical upgrades are swelling the price of the F-35 fighter, according to a newly released acquisition report on the fifth-generation jet. The total estimated acquisition cost for the F-35—covering all the airframes and engines the U.S. government plans to buy—is now $536.2 billion, according to the latest modernized selected acquisition report the Pentagon released this month. That is $51 billion more than the $485.2 billion price tag recorded in the previous

The Space Force spent nearly $124 million on commercial space data and services between 2023 and 2025—and a little known interagency working group could help facilitate even more data buys going forward.  A new Government Accountability Office report tracked Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office, and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency purchases of space data and services from private sector firms between January 2023 and September 2025. This includes things like imagery and el

U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach visited Israel in recent days as the conflict with Iran hit six months, meeting with the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Air Force. Wilsbach’s meeting with top Israeli military leaders Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Maj. Gen. Omer Tischler took place Aug. 23, the IDF announced Aug. 26. Wilsbach confirmed the meeting in an Aug. 28 social media post. The IDF said the leaders discussed “the regional situation, advancing learni

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md.—The iconic “whup-whup-whup” of the 1st Helicopter Squadron’s UH-1N Hueys still echoes in the skies of the Washington D.C. area, as the choppers flit around the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, and elsewhere, carrying senior government officials or training for contingency response. But on Aug. 27, a new helicopter that first flew half a century after the Huey sat beside the stage for the activation of a squadron that’s a full 57 years younger than the 1st. It was the beginn

The U.S. military’s ability to access air bases in Europe will be a central consideration as the Trump administration makes decisions on the future American military posture on the continent, the top Pentagon policy official said. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, who addressed NATO allies in Brussels on Aug. 27,  is leading the Pentagon review of the U.S. role in Europe with military input from Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, who serves as the head of U.S. European Command

A new collaborative digital environment could change the way the Space Force—and possibly the broader Defense Department—designs and tests capabilities. Space Systems Command has been working with General Dynamics Information Technology since 2023 to develop the platform, called Project Enigma, for its Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program—a fleet of nuclear command and control spacecraft that will replace the legacy Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite constellation. Beca

An Air Force captain has created a mobile app any service member can use to get “actionable guidance” on improving or maintaining their physical fitness. The Military Fitness Score app, available to both iOS and Android users, is free to download and use, can be based on any service’s fitness requirements, and give the user action steps to work on their fitness goals, build an initial program, and adjust it over time. The software tool also helps the user assess their current fitness level

The Air Force awarded a sweeping—and potentially massive—F-15 contract to Boeing this week, one that a top aviation expert said could provide a new approach to major program acquisitions and greater stability for the defense industry. The Pentagon on Aug. 24 announced the Air Force had awarded Boeing an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to support the F-15. The contract, which the Air Force is calling Eagle Crest, could be worth up to $131.2 billion over the next decade if it’