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The missing machine gun that triggered the firing of a security forces chief at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, in May turned up in what’s probably the last place the Air Force wanted it to: stashed in an airman’s home off-base. Minot officials announced on Wednesday that the machine gun had been recovered by Air Force Office of Special Investigation agents after obtaining a federal search warrant for the unnamed airman’s residence on June 19. The machine gun was discovered missing during a standard weapons inventory by the 91st Missile Wing security forces on May 16, just about two...

Under the contract, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based rocket company founded by Elon Musk will launch the Air Force Space Command-52 satellite to its intended orbit. The contract includes launch vehicle production and mission, as well as integration, launch operations and spaceflight worthiness activities, according to a notice posted by the U.S. Department of Defense. The work, which will be performed at SpaceX’s headquarters, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and in McGregor, Texas, is expected to be completed by September 2020. The mission is planned to be launched from Kennedy Space Center. Two proposals were received by the DOD in the competitive bidding...

he former head of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, managed to overlook the Air Force deserter with top-security clearance on her staff who has been a "most-wanted" fugitive for 35 years. Nanette Asimov and Megan Cassidy report in the San Francisco Chronicle: Employees in the University of California president's office in Oakland knew their former colleague Tim O'Beirne as the personable, brainy number-cruncher for the UC system's vast health benefits program. They were stunned Tuesday to learn that the Air Force has identified him as William Howard Hughes Jr., a captain with top-secret clearance who vanished in 1983....

Military officials have reportedly ordered a command-wide inventory and investigation after a box of grenades and a machine gun from an Air Force base in North Dakota went missing. CNN reported Friday that the inventory will seek to account for grenades, small arms, machine guns, rifles and pistols at eight bases under the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). The AFGSC did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment about the reported inventory. At the same time, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have been called to examine the matter, CNN reported....

If you've been paying attention to the latest viral controversy this week, you know that the following audio says "Yanny," not "Laurel." It says Yanny. Those who claim it says "Laurel" are spreading fake news. Regardless, the Air Force sent a Yanny vs. Laurel reference out on their Twitter feed Thursday morning about the Taliban. By the afternoon, they took it down and apologized.

A pair of U.S. Air Force stealth fighter jets intercepted two Russian nuclear-capable bombers Friday morning off the coast of Alaska, a spokesman for NORAD (North American Aeorospace Defense Command) told Fox News. The approach by the two Tupolev Tu-95 Russian "Bear" aircraft marked the first time in just over a year that Russian bombers had flown that close to U.S. territory. The Russian bombers came within 55 miles of Alaska's west coast, north of the Aleutian Islands, but remained in international airspace, the spokesman, Canadian Army Maj. Andrew Hennessy said.

We finally see the study that was oddly classified on arrival and it has new relevance based on Japan's desire for a new stealth fighter. Finally, in early 2016, the debate surrounding the need for more F-22s came to a head and study was mandated by Congress for the USAF to research what putting the super-fighter back into production would take. That study was finished in late 2016 with some of its findings openly discussed, but the document itself remained classified, until now. Snip The total procurement cost would be between $40 and $42 billion, with the entire program costing...

It was March 4, 2002. American special operations forces were fighting to establish observation posts high above Afghanistan’s Shah-i-Kot Valley, as conventional troops continued their push through the valley floor below. One of those men, Air Force Technical Sgt. John Chapman, was alone in the pitch-black, wounded and slowly regaining his consciousness in the thigh-deep snow of a 10,469-foot peak known as Takur Ghar, as scores of Al Qaeda fighters closed in. The operators were due to lift-off from their Gardez base around midnight and quietly land near the base of the peak before climbing to the top. But maintenance...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia Joint Base Langley–Eustis (JBLE), composed of Langley Air Force Base and Fort Eustis, is a United States military joint base located in the greater Hampton Roads area of the Tidewater region of Virginia. The installation is the result of the Base Realignment and Closure, 2005, a Congressional initiative to maximize the operational efficiency of 26 military installations nationwide by combining their support functions, contracts and organizations. Unlike other joint bases that share common perimeters, such as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in...

US forces have deployed the “Doomsday Plane” amid fears of war with Russia as tensions look ready to snap over Syria. Just after US President Donald Trump told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “get ready” for a missile strike the feared aircraft took to the sky. US forces put a Boeing E-4B Nightwatch plane into the air from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Indiana. The Nightwatch – also known as the Doomsday Plane – is an airborne nuclear war command centre. It would allow the US to maintain a chain of command in the event of a major war and...

An Air Force F-16 jet crashed Wednesday at Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas, defense officials told Fox News. The status of the pilot, or pilots, was not immediately clear. In a statement, the Air Force said, “Emergency responders are on the scene. As soon as additional details become available, they will be provided. The accident is under investigation." The jet crashed around 10:30 a.m. during routine training at Nevada Test and Training Range, officials said.

Jim Roche, then-Secretary of the Air Force, made an announcement on October 26, 2001, that all aviation enthusiasts had been waiting for: a winner had been picked to design and build the Joint Strike Fighter. The American people were assured the new jet would enter service in 2008 and be a high-performance replacement for the military’s aging airframes while only costing between $40 million and $50 million. The F-35 has now entered an unprecedented seventeenth year of continuing redesign, test deficiencies, fixes, schedule slippages, and cost overruns. And it’s still not at the finish line. Numerous missteps along the way—from...

​     ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Vandenberg Air Force Base, CaliforniaVandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located 9.2 miles northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast using expendable boosters (Pegasus, Taurus, Minotaur, Atlas V, Delta IV and now SpaceX's Falcon). Wing personnel also support the Service's LGM-30G Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force Development Evaluation...

At a U.S. military academy conference on “character and leadership,” one might expect to hear from individuals imparting wisdom and inspiration from their heroic military actions in the face of battle or its aftermath: Medal of Honor recipients, POW survivors, amputees who continue to serve with dignity and valor. Nah, that’s so “old school.” Heroism now, according to the canons of political correctness, is defined by Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner, Ellen DeGeneres, and homosexual activist/figure skater Adam Rippon. They have the “courage” to “be themselves” and defiantly proclaim their valorous individuality. Despite the fact that the American people spoke in November...

Last night the world was close to a military confrontation between two nuclear powers, Russia and the U.S. In an incredibly dangerous incident in the skies over Syria, an American F-22, which is called a stealth fighter, fired what we now know to be warning flares at our attack aircraft Su-25 at close range.

Boeing posted an image today of a Louisiana Air National Guard F-15C wearing a pair of conformal fuel tanks (CFTs). The tanks are part of a new initiative to give the F-15C fleet more gas and weapons carrying capability in order to execute what the Air National Guard calls future "persistent air dominance missions." The 159th Fighter Wing "Bayou Militia" is the first unit to receive the tanks for testing and evaluation. Boeing's Randy Jackson stated the following in an email to the The War Zone: "The first flight with the tanks was achieved in just 10 months after the...

... Besides this being the first time the Heritage Team has done this at the Super Bowl, there’s an interesting mix of aircraft flying over U.S. Bank Stadium. There are four planes representing three generations of aircraft for the flyover: one F-16, two A-10s and a P-51 (more about the planes themselves below). They’ll be flying in a diamond formation with the P-51 out in front, the two A-10s even with each other on the side and the F-16 bringing up the rear. “It’s a really unique formation to take a look at, because you never really get to see...

The author of a memo arguing for a government takeover of development of the nation's 5G mobile network has been removed from the National Security Council staff. The memo's unauthorized release this week caused uproar in the telecom community and created embarrassment for the White House A senior administration official confirmed that Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Spalding is no longer serving as NSC senior director for strategic planning. Spalding was not fired, according to the official, who said his detail had ended and was not renewed. His last day as a White House staffer was Jan. 31. Spalding was...

Air Force One is primed to receive an upgrade that will include new refrigerators expected to cost American taxpayers nearly $24 million. The US Air Force awarded Boeing a $23.6 million contract in December to replace two of the five "cold chiller units" aboard the aircraft used by President Donald Trump.