Next-gen air dominance and surprise new Air Force leadership: 2025 review
A look at some of the top stories that defined the air warfare beat this year.
Air Force expects first delivery of delayed Boeing Air Force One jets in ‘mid-2028’
The new date marks some progress for the beleaguered Air Force One program, whose challenges have cost Boeing billions of dollars.
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GPS: Still the gold standard in global navigation
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
Pentagon acquisition chief pledges new ‘program czars’ will cut red tape, not add to it
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey outlined key steps taken since an early November mandate to move out on acquisition reform.
Forge ahead with the Sentinel ICBM, but consider making it mobile
Nuclear experts from three different think tanks argue that it's time to take the idea of mobile launchers for America's ICBMs seriously.
About that ‘tension’ with Qatar, and refueling on orbit: AFA day 3 [Video]
On day three of AFA, a senior Air Force official acknowledged the US didn't see Israel's strike in Qatar coming.
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Modernizing the nuclear triad with a new cornerstone ICBM
The Air Force’s Sentinel missile’s capabilities are being proven digitally to accelerate design and reduce costs.
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Turning R&D into reality to meet the challenges of the modern battlefield
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
An ICBM update and Space Force in focus: AFA day 2 [Video]
Things that go into orbit led the news at day two of the AFA conference.
Air Force general pledges to ‘get Sentinel done,’ expects Milestone B in 2027
Air Force Program Executive Officer for ICBMs Brig. Gen. William Rogers said he has “every intention” of fully fielding the forthcoming Sentinel missile ahead of 2050.
Air Force can extend Minuteman ICBMs to 2050, but with risks: GAO
“Today's GAO report confirms that we desperately need an independent review to hold Pentagon officials accountable for wasting and mismanaging billions of taxpayer dollars,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Breaking Defense.
The Break Out: A glimpse into Navy’s CCA plans, and a Sentinel milestone [VIDEO]
The team talks about a couple recent scoops on the Navy's secretive drone wingman program and the transition to Sentinel ICBMs.
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Keeping sensitive information safe in a new AI era
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
Air Force takes first Minuteman III silo offline, in milestone towards Sentinel
The service said that requirements to keep 400 nuclear missiles on alert will not be impacted by the shuttering of a silo located at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
Sentinel ICBM first flight date now in flux, Air Force says
The troubled ICBM program was supposed to fly for the first time in 2026, but now the Air Force says that the date is unknown.
Air Force now expects Sentinel ICBMs will ‘predominantly’ need new silos
“Part of the requirements, initially — ten years ago when this program was started — was to reuse the holes, the missile holes at the launch facilities,” said Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere. “Shockingly enough, if we look at it, that may not be the answer.”
It’s time to put American bombers back on alert
The US bomber fleet has been off alert since 1991, but the nuclear threats of China, Russia and North Korea means it's time to go back to the Cold War posture, argue two nuclear power advocates.