Air Force F-16 pilots are testing out new sensors that could help maximize their performance and avoid deadly accidents while flying fast under heavy G-forces and stressful conditions. Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Integrated Cockpit Sensing (ICS) system measures a pilot’s blood oxygen levels, heart rate, breathing rate, skin temperature, and other markers that show how their bodies are faring in flight. F-16 pilots from the Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron and 422nd Test and Evaluation Squad ..read more

Two of the four B-1B Lancers deployed as a Bomber Task Force to Spain last month have been positioned closer to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the Air Force announced, as the aircraft are now exercising in Turkey with that NATO partner’s air force. The U.S. Air Force has supported Israel’s defense against Iranian missile attacks in recent days, and additional USAF fighters have deployed to the region in the last week, likely in anticipation of potential Iranian attacks on U.S. assets.   The two bombers “flew from their deployed location at Morón Air Base, Spain, to Incirlik ..read more

Altus Air Force Base, Okla, the pilot schoolhouse for large transport aircraft, evacuated a large number of its C-17s, KC-46s, and KC-135s to other bases in the region on April 15, ahead of severe weather expected overnight. The 97th Air Mobility Wing moved many of its mobility aircraft to undisclosed locations “based on availability and capability” of those bases to receive and temporarily accommodate them, the wing said in response to queries from Air & Space Forces Magazine. The receiving bases were not named, citing operational security. Altus is about 100 miles west-southwest of Ok ..read more

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin began his tenure as chief pressing Airmen to “follow through” on changes needed to respond to China’s growing military might and the changing nature of warfare. On April 15, Allvin offered his first self-assessment to Airmen in a memo focused on progress so far. “This security environment, as outlined in our Case for Change, is defined by a formidable competitor and a rapidly accelerating pace of change,” Allvin wrote. “We have been charting a course for the change we need, and now we are following through on our commitment to those changes. Thi ..read more

U.S. Air Force fighters shot down numerous Iranian drones as they were heading toward targets in Israel on April 13, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. U.S. officials declined to say which platforms were involved in the drone engagements. The Pentagon recently sent additional Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles to the region to supplement the the F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs already there. Both F-15s and F-16s can conduct air defense missions. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement the U.S. “intercepted dozens of missiles and UAVs en rou ..read more

National Guard officials and state governors are arguing against removing space missions from the Guard, challenging a key element of the Department of the Air Force’s plan on how to staff its space missions.  The long-simmering issue came to the fore recently after the leaders of the National Governors Association, Govs. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) released a statement blasting the Department of Air Force’s plans to create part-time Guardians in lieu of a Space National Guard. Fourteen Guard units in seven states and Guam currently have space-related missions, suc ..read more

Kadena Air Base, Japan, is exchanging F-35s and F-15Cs for F-22s and F-16s in the base’s latest rotation of fighters on Okinawa, a strategic location just 400 miles east of Taiwan. Kadena’s 18th Wing released a statement and images showing the Raptors are from the 199th and 19th Fighter Squadrons of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. It did not disclose from where the F-16s came. An F-22A Raptor assigned to the 19th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, departs after receiving aerial refueling during a large force exercise over the Pacific Ocean, April 10, 2024. U ..read more

The Air Force will award more contracts for Collaborative Combat Aircraft in the coming months and is committed to fielding the autonomous unmanned jets within the next few years. But how that will impact Airmen’s job remains to be seen, the head of Air Force Futures said April 12.  Speaking at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, Lt. Gen. David A. Harris said the manpower matters raised by CCAs are still a work-in-progress.   “We tend to focus a lot on the materiel piece of this, but there is so much more baked into the doctrine, the TTPs, the manpower piece o ..read more

The race for Air Force captains to become majors was more competitive this year than last, with declines in both the total number and promotion rate for the O-4 rank in Line of the Air Force categories, according to newly-released data. In all, 1,995 new majors were selected out of 2,367 captains considered at the selection board late last year, for an overall selection rate of about 84 percent. By comparison, the 2022 promotion board process resulted in 2,177 new majors from a field of 2,531, for a selection rate of 86 percent, according to data provided by the Air Force Personnel Center ..read more

House lawmakers are pushing for a 15 percent pay raise for enlisted troops ranked E-1 to E-4 as part of a slew of changes meant to improve quality of life for service members and their families. The changes, which address pay and compensation, child care, housing, health care, and spouse support, were laid out in a new report released April 11 by the House Armed Services Committee’s Quality of Life Panel, which was formed last year to address long-running concerns. “These 40 pages right here … are going to change the military for the better,” panel member Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) said at ..read more