Air Force Archives

US Air Force hopes to learn from Australia’s robotic wingmen efforts as it pursues collaborative combat aircraft

The Royal Australian Air Force's Ghost Bat drone is expected to enter the fleet by 2025.

19 hours ago By Mikayla Easley

An Air Force Research Lab conceptual design for an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (Artwork courtesy of AFRL)

Air Force plans to spend more than $6B on CCA drone programs over the next 5 years

In fiscal 2024-2028, the service intends to invest about $5.8 billion in R&D for collaborative combat aircraft, plus another $400 million or so for an experimental operations…

19 hours ago By Jon Harper

Lauren Knausenberger speaks on a panel at FedScoop’s ITModTalks 2023. (FedScoop)

Air Force’s ICAM roadmap is rooted in a better experience for users, CIO Knausenberger says

In addition to a more secure enterprise, the Air Force's vision for ICAM is meant to create a better user experience for airmen, Lauren Knausenberger said.

5 days ago By Billy Mitchell

DOD’s Dave McKeown holds a press briefing on the release of the DoD Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap at the Pentagon (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Lessons learned from the defense CIOs’ recent West Coast visit to meet with JWCC cloud providers

The meeting with the cloud vendors provided an opportunity to plot out the work they hope to do together and identify any gaps that might exist.

Mar 14, 2023 By Billy Mitchell

An XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle launches at the Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Dec. 9, 2020. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua King)

Air Force requests approximately $500M in fiscal 2024 to launch new CCA drone program

The funding would go toward three lines of effort: platform development, autonomy development, and standing up an “experimental operations unit” to explore operating concepts.

Mar 13, 2023 By Jon Harper

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 aviation ordnance technicians load compatible software for a U. S. Air Force Guided Bomb Unit 38 to be employed on a U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet proof of concept mission at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, March 14, 2022. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Master Sgt. Christopher Parr)

Marine Corps launches its first software factory

The Marine Corps will continue its partnership with the Army, co-locating with the service's software factory in Austin, Texas.

Mar 10, 2023 By Billy Mitchell

White House’s fiscal 2024 budget aims to accelerate combat drone development and procurement

The Biden administration proposes increasing the DOD's total discretionary budget authority to $842 billion, a 3.2% boost from the 2023 enacted level.

Mar 9, 2023 By Jon Harper

AFRL tech leaders brief reporters at the AFA Warfare Symposium on March 7, 2023. (Photo by Brandi VIncent)

AFRL unveils new directorate and ‘labverse’ to accelerate digital transformation

Formally approved and established on March 1, the new Digital Capabilities Directorate is working to leverage best practices implemented by commercial companies to pave the way for…

Mar 7, 2023 By Brandi Vincent

Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter briefs the media at AFA’s Warfare Symposium, March 6, 2023. (Photo by Brandi Vincent)

Air Force acquisition chief outlines new approach for more survivable, better networked next-gen tankers

The technologies envisioned for NGAS will likely have more self-protection and networking features — and will also have the “ability to go deeper into contested airspace,” Andrew…

Mar 7, 2023 By Brandi Vincent

An F22 fighter jet soars above the clouds as the sun begins to set over a beautiful cloudscape. Source: Getty Images

Air Force plans a trio of contracts for Cloud One follow-on

The Air Force is considering a "three-contract" modular approach for the follow-on procurement, which it is calling Cloud One Next.

Feb 28, 2023 By Billy Mitchell