Air Force

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>

What Is the Air Force Doing With This Spaceship?

Unmanned X-37 will be launched this month for indefinite time in orbit

(Newser) - This month the Air Force will send the X-37—a sort of unmanned mini-space shuttle salvaged from a scrapped NASA project—into orbit, but its intentions, what the X-37 is designed to do, and why it rescued a project NASA planned to ax in 2006 remain mysteriously unclear. The Air...

White Stripes Warn Air Force Over Super Bowl Ad

Musicians claim TV spot recycles their song

(Newser) - The White Stripes have threatened "strong action" against the Air Force Reserve for a Super Bowl ad that sounded an awful lot like their song "Fell in Love with a Girl." The Air Force and Fast Forward Music, the firm hired to score the commercial, have denied...

Air Force Builds Wiccan Center; Someone Erects a Cross

So much for efforts to boost religious tolerance at academy

(Newser) - The Air Force Academy's newly opened outdoor worship area for Wiccans was supposed to signal a new era of religious tolerance at an institution long plagued by complaints of Christian bias. Until, that is, a cross was planted in the middle of it two weeks ago. Now angry religious freedom...

Military Can't Keep Up With Drone Intel

Predators produce too much video for analysts to digest

(Newser) - The military is rushing to get more spy drones into Afghanistan’s sky, but they’ve already got more video streaming in than they can handle. All of the footage is watched live for any potential threat troops should be aware of—roughly 24 years' worth of footage was recorded...

Air Force Pulls Video After Marines Complain

Recruiting vid says airman 'in better shape'

(Newser) - The Air Force hastily pulled down its latest recruiting video yesterday in response to a complaint from a high-ranking Marine Corps official. In the video, an Air Force instructor boasts that his charges leave basic training “in better shape than most Marines.” Marines spotted it on the Air...

US Pilot Missing After F-16s Collide

Coast Guard searches waters off South Carolina

(Newser) - The Coast Guard is searching off the coast of South Carolina for the pilot of an F-16 involved in a collision with another fighter jet last night during a training exercise. The other pilot involved managed to safely return to Shaw Air Force Base and is being examined by doctors....

Petraeus Sorry for Razzing Air Force

Central Command head apologizes after 'outrageous' joke

(Newser) - The head of US Central Command has apologized to the Air Force after making a joke at the service's expense, the Air Force Times reports. A rep for the Air Force chief of staff said the apology was accepted. David Petraeus, an Army general who commands US operations in Iraq...

First Air France Bodies Found
 First Air France Bodies Found 
Jun 6, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

First Air France Bodies Found

(Newser) - The Brazilian Air Force has recovered the first two bodies from the Air France crash, the BBC reports. They also found a suitcase and a backback with a laptop inside. “We confirm the recovery from the water debris and bodies from the Air France plane," an air force...

Air Force Ship Becomes Artificial Reef Off Fla. Keys

WWII cargo ship also tracked missiles and spacecraft

(Newser) - Demolition experts sank an Air Force ship this morning to create an artificial reef in the Florida Keys, the AP reports. The 17,000-ton, WWII-era cargo ship took less than 2 minutes to sink after a series of explosions. The new "reef" is expected to bring in about...

Pilot Killed in Crash of F-22 Fighter Jet
Pilot Killed in Crash
of F-22 Fighter Jet
UPDATED
Mar 25, 2009 9:47 PM CDT

Pilot Killed in Crash of F-22 Fighter Jet

(Newser) - The pilot aboard an F-22 fighter jet that crashed near Edwards Air Force Base this morning was killed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The F-22 Raptor went down during a test mission, and it wasn't immediately clear if the 49-year-old pilot ejected; no word yet on the cause of the...

Gregg Pulled In Profit on Air Force Base Earmark

No personal gain from earmarks, says senator

(Newser) - Barack Obama can be glad Sen. Judd Gregg, briefly nominated for commerce secretary, backed out. Today, the AP reports that Gregg invested heavily in efforts by his brother Cyrus to redevelop New Hampshire’s Pease Air Force Base, while earmarking federal dollars for the redevelopment. “These earmarks do not...

City Covered Up Yeager's Fabled Bridge Stunt

Press, public kept mum about '48 flight under city bridge

(Newser) - When local son Chuck Yeager flew his jet under a Charleston bridge in 1948, there was no advance warning—and no official record of it afterward. The rebellious fighter pilot was scheduled to buzz a boat race, but no one expected him to do it from 6 feet above the...

Missile Strikes Are Learning Tool: CIA

Chief says agency 'tickles' terrorist enemy to gauge reaction

(Newser) - The CIA purposely uses missile strikes to "tickle" enemy groups, often by targeting a single person, to learn from their responses, agency chief Michael Hayden said today. Hayden also told a gathering of Air Force members the CIA has "picked up insights" from working alongside the military, the...

Pentagon's New Bid Rules Favor Northrop: Boeing

Bidding changes seen to justify previous decision

(Newser) - The Pentagon issued new criteria yesterday for the second round of bidding on its lucrative fuel-tanker contract, Bloomberg reports, and Boeing backers immediately cried foul. The new terms give bonus points to a plane that carries more fuel than the earlier guidelines, which Boeing officials and congressional allies claim favors...

B-52 Crashes Off Guam
 B-52 Crashes Off Guam 
Jul 21, 2008 6:21 AM CDT

B-52 Crashes Off Guam

Search under way for 6 crew members

(Newser) - A US B-52 bomber with six crew members crashed near the island of Guam today, AP reports. A dozen planes and ships have been deployed by the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard to search for survivors. Rescuers have found at least two people, but their condition was not immediately...

Pentagon to Re-Open $35B Air Force Tanker Bid

(Newser) - The Pentagon will re-open a $35 billion contract to build the Air Force's fleet of new refueling tankers and pick a new winner by the end of the year, congressional sources say. The Office of the Secretary of Defense—not the Air Force—will oversee the new competition between Boeing...

Nuclear Parts Still Missing: Pentagon Report

Sensitive components remain unaccounted for in mess that cost Air Force brass jobs

(Newser) - The investigation that resulted in the dismissal of top US Air Force brass two weeks ago also found that hundreds of nuclear-missile parts remain missing, the Financial Times reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon needed "to re-establish positive control of these sensitive, classified components" in announcing the...

Tough Calls Await on Boeing Defense Bid

CEO can fold if feds deny appeal on tanker, or ramp up lobbying

(Newser) - The Government Accountability Office must rule by next Thursday on Boeing’s appeal of an Air Force deal granting European rival Airbus a multi-billion dollar tanker contract—and CEO Jim McNerney has a tough call ahead if Boeing loses, the Seattle Times reports. He can ground the appeal, or draw...

US 'Learning as We Go' in Iraq, Says Bush

President compares war on terrorism to war on fascism and communism

(Newser) - President Bush said today the US is "learning as we go" in trying to bring democracy to Iraq and urged Americans not to lose faith. Delivering the commencement address at the Air Force Academy, Bush likened today's campaign against Islamic extremism to the fight against fascism of last century,...

US Preparing Iran War Plans
 US Preparing Iran War Plans 
Apr 25, 2008 2:40 PM CDT

US Preparing Iran War Plans

Attack isn't imminent, Joint Chiefs chair says, but US has capability

(Newser) - The US is preparing for a potential military action against Iran, the nation’s top military official said today. Such an attack would be “extremely stressing” on the military, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, but it is on the table if a diplomatic solution can’...

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser