The change comes as software troubles with the F-35's Technology Refresh 3 program led to a year-long delivery halt for the Joint Strike Fighter. The Air Force wants to keep its next-generation fighter jet affordable without sacrificing capability. Some analysts warn it can't be done. US military personnel in Japan are now banned from drinking off-base late at night after several service member arrests. Without a working attitude indicator and mired in thick cloud cover, the F-16 pilot found it difficult to ensure he was flying away from the ocean. The military grounded Ospreys after a fatal crash in November 2023, and Air Force Special Operations Command is gradually returning them to the air. The Pentagon is withholding $5 million per jet from its payments to Lockheed Martin until the new F-35s can fly in combat. The opening of the North Carolina airfield follows the service’s June recertification of an airfield on the Pacific island of Peleliu. Marine fighter pilots now have a missile that can strike targets up to 230 miles away, keeping aviators out of the range of many air defense systems. The report also outlines the service’s procurement schedule to reach a fleet of nearly 1,800 of the aircraft by 2049. The agile combat employment concept aims to disperse Air Force bases, making it impossible for adversaries to take them out with a single missile barrage. Load More