Air Force Magazine

The Air National Guard is offering $7,500 bonus to Guard members for a three-year reenlistment before the end of fiscal 2026—but time is running out. The “Summer Surge Incentive” seeks to secure Air Guard reenlistments and attract Active-duty members to sign on with Air Guard after leaving service, according to an Aug. 4 Air Guard announcement. The Guard aims to recruit 8,842 Airmen toward an end-strength requirement of 106,300 for fiscal 2026, which ends Sept. 30. The bonuses and several

The Air Force awarded Boeing a $75 million production contract to begin supplying long-range JDAMs as the service seeks to expand its arsenal and extend the range of its key munitions. The BSU-111 Payload Delivery Unit creates a new JDAM variant, the GBU-75 JDAM-LR, with a stand-off range of more than 300 nautical miles for a 500-pound payload, Boeing said in a release. That’s a significant increase from the standard GBU-38 JDAM, at 15 nm, and the extended-range JDAM-ER, at 45 nm. The l

Lt. Gen. Daniel Tulley took charge of Air Mobility Command on Aug. 3, where he will oversee the Air Force’s vast airlift, aerial refueling, and aeromedical evacuation missions around the world. Tulley moves to AMC after less than a year as commander and president of Air University, filling the void left when Gen. John Lamontagne was promoted to vice chief of staff of the Air Force earlier this year. AMC Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Rebecca Sonkiss has been the acting AMC commander since February

The Space Force announced $615 million in contracts to three vendors to mature space-based sensing and targeting capabilities in an effort to diversify its contractor base and accelerate technology development.  The Space-Based Air Moving Targeting Indicator awards, announced Aug. 4, went to Rocket Lab, Systems & Technology Research, and a third firm whose name the service withheld “due to operational security.” Space Systems Command declined to provide financial information or discu

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C.—There is a new air component commander for U.S. forces in the Middle East: Lt. Gen. Daniel T. Lasica.  Lasica assumed command of Air Forces Central and took over as the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) for U.S. Central Command from Lt. Gen Derek C. France in a ceremony here on Aug. 4. He takes over one of the most high-profile three-star commands in the U.S. military in the midst of an on-again-off-again air campaign against Iran. Air Combat

The Department of the Air Force released new guidance telling commanders to begin separating Airmen and Guardians who have had medical shaving profiles for too long. The July 28 memo, “Changes to Military Separations Incorporating Grooming Standards Separations,” was posted on the amn/nco/snco Facebook page. An Air Force official confirmed that Andersen’s memo is authentic. Teh memo updates a December 2025 policy issued after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a crackdown

The Air Force appointed a colonel to head enlisted recruiting, more than 18 months after combining officer and enlisted recruiting into a single organization. Col. Lacresha A. Merkle took command of Air Force Recruiting Services on July 30 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. She will report to Brig. Gen. Jeffrey W. Nelson, who heads the Air Force Accessions Center, which combines AFRS and the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions into a single organization. The Holm Center, at Maxw

The Air Force’s X-62 autonomous test fighter carried out multiple artificial intelligence-controlled intercepts of a crewed jet in a series of experiments earlier this year, the service said Aug. 4. A heavily modified F-16D, the X-62 is also known as the Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft, or VISTA. In the tests, it used Lockheed Martin’s Infrared Search and Track Legion Pod to demonstrate how autonomous aircraft intercepts might work, the Air Force said in a statement. Lockheed

Private investment firm AE Industrial has acquired a majority stake in L3Harris’ space propulsion business and plans to re-establish it as Rocketdyne, reflecting its 61-year heritage building rocket engines. Kristin Houston, previously president of space propulsion and power systems within L3Harris’ missile solutions portfolio, will be the stand-alone firm’s CEO. Under the terms of the $845 million transaction, which closed Aug. 4, L3Harris will retain a 40% stake in the new company.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, outside observers have measured Ukraine’s prospects by a familiar yardstick: miles of territory gained or lost on the ground. By that standard, the war often appears static, attritional, and brutally expensive. But Ukraine is now demonstrating an alternative—and more effective—means to fight, taking the war deep into Russian territory not simply to punish Moscow, but to disrupt the systems that enable its military to continue

Boeing’s MQ-28 Collaborative Combat Aircraft flew with multiple F-35 variants as well as battle management aircraft during a recent major Pacific exercise, the contractor announced this week. Exercise Valiant Shield 26, which took place June 22 to July 1 t, spanning Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Japan, marked the first time the U.S. Air Force included a CCA drone in a large-scale, joint multinational exercise. In a release, Boeing said the Ghost Bat “participated … alongside F

F-22 Raptors that had been stationed in the Middle East arrived in England on July 10, the latest batch of U.S. warplanes to leave the region despite ongoing tensions with Iran. Around 10 F-22s assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., arrived at RAF Fairford, U.K, on July 10, according to flight trackers. The jets were seen and documented by local aircraft spotters. Earlier this month, around a dozen F-15E Strike Eagles from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenhe

The Air Force and Space Force want approval from Congress to shift more than $900 million in fiscal 2026 funds to cover higher-than-expected personnel costs. That move, laid out in a larger $4.3 billion Pentagon-wide reprogramming request submitted to Congress in late June, would draw funds from various Department of the Air Force accounts, most notably pulling close to $774 million from aircraft procurement programs like the F-35 and KC-46.  Those programs would essentially be billpayers

The Space Force has finalized a major reorganization of its acquisition structure, creating nine mission area-focused portfolio acquisition executives with broad authority over the service’s development and procurement programs.  The service announced its first two PAEs in January, followed by four more in March. It finalized the remaining three in a June 22 memo signed by Acting Assistant Secretary for Space Acquisition and Integration Thomas Ainsworth. The complete list, as follows:

The Air Force has officially decided the B-21 Raider will fly with a two-pilot air crew—and some of those pilots will be former weapon system and combat systems officers. The Air Force is establishing a transition program for WSOs and CSOs to become pilots and take follow-on assignments flying the new bomber. Built by Northrop Grumman, the next-generation B-21 stealth bomber will enter service in 2027. Like the B-2, the B-21 features a flying wing design and will be capable of carrying bot

Just over a year after becoming the 27th Secretary of the Air Force, Troy Meink believes he’s making progress on his top priorities—increasing Air Force readiness, modernizing its aircraft fleet, and growing the nascent Space Force.   Meink acknowledged continuing headwinds in a June 26 interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine, but said the proof of his progress shows in the fiscal 2027 budget now worki

Scoring errors revealed in a review of recent Air Force promotions means that 135 security forces staff sergeants are getting belated good news about promotions—while 135 others are discovering they will not be promoted as previously told. An “outdated scoring key” used to grade 2026 E-6 promotion exams used to score the 3P071 security forces Specialty Knowledge Test, or SKT, was at fault. The error “led to 27 miskeys that fundamentally corrupted the security forces promotion list for 26E6,”

Since U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich became NATO’s top military officer in July 2025, the alliance has contended with Russian drone incursions and hybrid warfare against its members and Moscow’s continued aggression in Ukraine. Now the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a career fighter pilot, is trying to guide a major transformation of the forces under his command. The “NATO Force Model” is being adapted as the Trump administration scales back the forces it would offer Europe in

The Space Force started its second live Tactically Responsive Space mission June 19, working with a contractor to launch a satellite to low-Earth orbit in less than 17 hours. That spacecraft will now conduct a series of maneuver demonstrations with another vehicle. The mission, dubbed Victus Haze, launched from Rocket Lab’s private spaceport on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. In a release, Rocket Lab said its Electron rocket lifted off with its Puma satellite to low-Earth orbit earl

With Space Force leaders making the case that the service must grow to meet the demand of new threats, a recent workshop with 50 experts studied how those threats could impact American civilian and military capabilities as they escalate in severity and how the U.S. might respond to them. The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence hosted the workshop in January and is releasing a 40-page report summarizing the results this week, coauthored by retired Cols. Charles Galbrea