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The US Air Force has 140 of its biggest warplanes – its heavy bombers – in active service: 76 Boeing B-52Hs, 44 Boeing B-1Bs and 20 B-2 stealth bombers built by Northrop Grumman. .. Any other air force might content itself with 140 bombers and redistribute the lost bomber’s operating budget. But the US Air Force is counting on the B-1 to play a lead role in a possible air war over the Taiwan Strait. It’s such a high priority that the service is spending millions of dollars recovering, from long-term storage, a surplus B-1 nicknamed “Lancelot” that’s been sitting...

Cereals regarded as healthy may actually raise your risk of dementia — and it's not because of the sugar. A study published in the journal General Psychiatry found a link between a vitamin in brands such as Cheerios and Shreddies and cognitive decline, which can be a precursor for dementia. Thiamine, or vitamin B1, is also found naturally in whole grains, legumes, liver and salmon, and not getting enough of it has also been linked to health issues. But researchers say for the first time they've discovered a J-shaped curve that indicates consuming too much also has negative consequences.

A B-1 Lancer bomber crash landed in South Dakota on Thursday, forcing the entire crew to eject during a training mission. The crash landing took place at 5:50 p.m. at Ellsworth Air Force Base during a training exercise. The 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth said that the accident happened while the plane was “attempting to land on the installation. At the time of the accident, it was on a training mission. There were four aircrew on board. All four ejected safely.” There were reportedly poor winter weather conditions at the time of the crash, which is still being investigated by...

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on Friday formally declassified an image then-US President Donald Trump tweeted in 2019 of a highly classified satellite photograph depicting the site of a failed Iranian rocket launch. NPR reported that the NGA declassified the image after a “grueling Pentagon-wide review to determine whether the briefing slide it came from could be shared with the public” in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the radio network. Many details on the original image remain redacted – a clear sign that Trump was sharing some of the US government's most prized intelligence on social media,...

America’s premier long-range heavy bombers are back in Guarm, and they mean business. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota arrived at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Thursday as part of a mission with the core goal of “deterring potential adversaries and challenging their decision calculus,” the service announced in a press release. The arrival of the undisclosed number of Lancers marks the second rotation to Guam this year following a Bomber Task Force (BTF) mission in June that saw four aircraft integrate with Japan Air Self-Defense...

Do you experience a weakness all the time or do you sometimes feel a slight dizziness whenever you stand up quickly or change your position quickly? If yes, you could be suffering from a low RBC count but relax! Here is the list of best foods to increase red blood cells in your body. Do you go for a frequent check up every once in a while? A busy life where you strive hard to meet your deadlines and accomplish your daily tasks may bring a lot many changes inside your body So the best measure you can take is...

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered that a form of vitamin B1 could become a new and effective treatment for one of the world's leading causes of blindness. Scientists believe that uveitis, an inflammation of the tissue located just below the outer surface of the eyeball, produces 10 to 15 percent of all cases of blindness in the United States, and causes even higher rates of blindness globally. The inflammation is normally treated with antibiotics or steroid eye drops. In a paper appearing in the May issue of the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, however,...

========================================================================== A photograph appears to show a plane flying over Edwards Air Force base that's unlike any aircraft publicly acknowledged by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft appears similar to the RQ-180, a high-altitude spy drone. The RQ-180’s existence has never been confirmed by the U.S. Air Force. ======================================================================== The image (above) depicts a flying wing-shaped aircraft leaving a contrail in its wake. An observer reportedly took the photo while the aircraft was over the Military Operating Area at Edwards Air Force Base in California. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, the aircraft “was flying in a racetrack pattern...

The Air Force is mapping a two-fold future path for its B-1 bomber which includes plans to upgrade the bomber Warrior Maven Video Report: How long will the B-1 Bomber remain in service? Will it retire when the B-21 arrives? The Air Force is mapping a two-fold future path for its B-1 bomber which includes plans to upgrade the bomber while simultaneously preparing the aircraft for eventual retirement as the service's new stealth bomber arrives in coming years. These two trajectories, which appear as somewhat of a paradox or contradiction, are actually interwoven efforts designed to both maximize the bomber’s...

The U.S. Air Force’s entire B-1 bomber fleet was ordered to stand down Thursday because of an issue with ejection seat components, the Air Force Global Strike Command said. The announcement came more than a month after a B-1B Lancer made an emergency landing at Midland International Air & Space Port in Texas. Officials investigating the incident determined that there was an issue with ejection seat components and ordered the stand down. “The [Safety Investigation Board’s] purpose is to prevent future mishaps or losses and is comprised of experts who investigate the incident and recommend corrective actions. The safety of...

At five o’clock in the morning on May 16, 1940 a company of the 8th Panzer Regiment lay in an ambush position along a rubble-strewn street of the French town of Stonne. The day before, the unfortunate village had changed hands several times as French troops attempted to stem the tide of German armor headed toward the English channel, threatening to trap Allied forces in Belgium.

N. Korea relocated warplanes after B-1B flight: spy agency By Kim Rahn North Korea has moved its warplanes toward its east coast and strengthened coastal defenses following the U.S. strategic bombers' flight near there, according to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Tuesday. Pyongyang did not take any immediate military action in response to the flight of B-1B Lancer bombers, probably because it failed to detect them, the NIS said. The spy agency briefed members of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on the movement of North Korea's military following the flight. Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party...

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity. In a Reuters interview, Trump also complained about Russian deployment of a cruise missile in violation of an arms control treaty and said he would raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin when and if they meet. On another front, Trump said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure...

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has been busy highlighting key pieces of the Pentagon’s upcoming budget that will be published on February 9th. One of the primary items identified in it is the development of an aerial arsenal ship. The arsenal ship concept is something we talk about regularly here on Foxtrot Alpha, both those that fly and float. Today, the closest thing to an arsenal ship of any kind are the Navy’s converted Ohio Class ballisitic missile submarines and the Navy’s Aegis-equipped destroyers and cruisers. The flying arsenal ship concept has been around for a very long time, and...

The huge swing-wing airplane is nothing if not flexible — canceled, revived, converted from nuclear strike plane to conventional bomber and then to flying arsenal for the GPS-guided bombs on which ground troops fighting for their lives in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Syria often rely. And if the U.S. Air Force’s supersonic B-1 bomber is one other thing, it’s misunderstood. It’s no secret that the B-1 bomber, officially called the Lancer but known to its four-man crews as the “Bone” (they proudly call themselves “Bone-drivers”), had a troubled early life. Canceled by President Jimmy Carter and revived by successor Ronald...

While Obama desperately tries to stick to his now crushed "Nobel peace prize winner" image, by not succumbing to an all-out land war in the one nation where his progressive "pacifism" brought him fame (and according to some, the presidency), namely Iraq, the rest of militant, "interventionist" US foreign policy is rapidly starting to resemble that waged by the most brutally rabid, neo-con Republican leader. Case in point an absolute stunner reported minutes ago by the WSJ, according to which the White House has decided to provide pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns and radios for calling in U.S....

One of the most distinctive features of U.S. military power is the Air Force’s fleet of heavy bombers. .... However, after 80 years of steadily developing better bombers — basically, since it entered World War One — the U.S. ceased spending money on new long-range strike aircraft following the collapse of the Soviet Union. There aren’t many bombers left. All of the bombers are old. No new bomber is waiting in the wings.

Retire B-1 Fleet to Save Future Bombers: Defense Experts A collection of defense think tank leaders said the Pentagon should retire its B-1 bomber fleet and cut near-term readiness money if it’s going to survive the next decade of sequestration. The Center of Strategic and Budgetary Assessments recently held a “strategic choices exercise” to look at possible ways to cut the defense budget by $500 billion over the next decade. Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at CSBA told an audience Tuesday at the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition, about the results. In addition to the...

BOX ELDER, SD - The B-1 Bombers at Ellsworth Air Force Base won't be flying anytime soon. "Our local combat squadron, the 37th combat squadron will not fly between now, and right now we're planning until October first," 28th Bomb Wing Colonel Kevin Kennedy said. Because of sequestration the military is coping with close to $500 billion in cuts to its budget over the next decade. The groundings will help Air Combat Command cut a total of 45 thousand flight hours across the board. "Bottom line, though, this is something that we need to do to make sure we're ready...

First the US fanfared the placement of two F-22 Raptors in the Osan airbase of South Korea. Then it demonstratively launched a B-2 stealth bomber on a training mission over a South Korean gunnery range. Then it deployed an anti-ballistic missile defense system to Guam and positioned two guided-missile destroyers in the waters near Korea. And now, courtesy of the Aviationist, we learn that the Pentagon has escalated once more in an ongoing cat and mouse game with North Korea, of who blinks first, and dispatched several B-1 ("Bone") Lancer strategic long-range bombers to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam....