US Air Force (USAF)

495th FS F-35 News Premium

EXCLUSIVE: List of Lakenheath’s 495th FS F-35 Valkyrie names

The F-35A Lightning IIs of the 495th Fighter Squadron (FS) at RAF Lakenheath have each been given the name of a Valkyrie from Norse mythology

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Sierra Nevada to bid for USAF ‘Doomsday Plane’ replacement

Sierra Nevada Corporation is bidding for the USAF’s $8bn Survivable Airborne Operations Center programme – the replacement for the USAF’s ageing fleet of E-4B ‘Nightwatch’ National Airborne Operations Center aircraft, otherwise known as the air arm’s so-called ‘Doomsday Plane’

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USAF B-2As conclude Bomber Task Force deployment to Iceland

Three B-2A Sprit stealth bombers from the USAF’s 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Missouri, landed at NAS Keflavik in Iceland on August 13 to begin a month-long Bomber Task Force-Europe deployment

USAF releases new B-21 stealth bomber images as engine tests begin

The USAF announced on September 12 that the first B-21 Raider stealth bomber prototype had commenced engine runs at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, California, as part of its ground test programme

Tinker AFB bids farewell to more E-3 Sentry AWACS

A further two E-3B/G Sentry aircraft have taken off from Tinker AFB for the final time, having been flown from the Oklahoma base to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, to be placed in long-term storage as the USAF continues to drawdown its ageing AWACS fleet

Ex-USAF AT-6E Wolverines join the US Naval Test Pilot School

The US Naval Test Pilot School – a component of US Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR’s) Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) – has welcomed two newly acquired AT-6E Wolverine light attack aircraft to NAS Patuxent River in Maryland

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What is the USAF really doing with its secretive F-117A Nighthawk fleet?

Born in the ‘black world’, and operating in complete secrecy for the first years of its life, the F-117A has been doing much the same since its supposed ‘retirement’ in 2008. The veil of secrecy surrounding its operations since then has started to slip a little, however, as Jon Lake recounts

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Nuclear confusion and Lakenheath F-35s – setting the record straight

The mainstream media has jumped on a story about the possible housing of nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath, home of the US Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing (FW), and these reports have featured a number of inaccuracies.

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USAF's 55th Wing establishes permanent RC-135 detachment in Alaska

The USAF’s 55th Wing has announced the activation of the 55th Operations Group Detachment 1 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska

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Vermont ANG's 158th FW: Converting to the F-35A

Two senior Vermont Air National Guard officers tell Ted Carlson of Fotodynamics.com about their unit’s conversion and the busy operational schedule since receiving the first F-35A in 2019