Skip to main content

U.S. Air Force

RealClear Context

Click below to continue reading this story, discover more U.S. Air Force stories from over 25 years of RealClear archives, or follow this topic to stay in the know.

Greg Hadley • Air & Space Forces Magazine

AEW 2.0: Air Force Revises Deployment Model Again

The Air Force is revising once again its deployment model, scrapping its plans for "deployable combat wings" and revamping the Air Expeditionary...

01/27/26Read it on Air & Space Forces Magazine
5,500 stories
Shelby Holliday • The Wall Street Journal

U.S. Aircraft Evacuated From Second U.K. Base Due to Iran Threat

U.S. refueling tankers were moved from RAF Mildenhall on Monday...

Read it on The Wall Street Journal
Rebecca Grant • Lexington Institute

F-16s Build on Iran Combat Lessons to Prepare for China Threat

Iran war combat lessons are driving a faster pace of modernization for the U.S. Air Force’s F-16s. The F-16s have been in the thick of the action...

Read it on Lexington Institute
Defense

F-16s Build on Iran Combat Lessons to Prepare for China Threat

Rebecca Grant • RealClearDefense • November 10, 2026

Iran war combat lessons are driving a faster pace of modernization for the U.S. Air Force’s F-16s.  

The F-16s have been in the thick of the action during Operation Epic Fury, and will be again if strikes against Iran resume.  Night take-offs, anti-drone missions, aerial refueling, and air dominance patrols are just a few of the missions prominently highlighted on X by U.S. Central Command.  Not pictured: the specialized capability to kill any air defenses that go active with the radar-homing High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, or HARMs, an F-16 “Wild Weasel” specialty.  

3d ago
Tabitha Reeves • National Defense Magazine

Air Force Lessons Learned From Operation Epic Fury

3d ago
Jangoulun Singsit • Airforce Technology

AFRL, ACC Fly XQ-67A Drone To Test Autonomous Teaming

The flight tested the XQ-67A’s integrated sensors, mission computers and power and thermal management systems in combat-like conditions....

3d agoRead it on Airforce Technology
4d ago
Patty Nieberg • Task & Purpose

Drones Built To Look Like Birds Evaded Detection at Air Force Tech Exercise

The small unmanned aerial system (UAS) is designed to resemble a bird, while it collects intelligence or surveys an area at low altitudes....

4d agoRead it on Task & Purpose
5d ago
Michael Peck • Defense News

U.S. Air Force Asks Industry for New Cruise Missile for Ukraine

Potential contractors are asked to detail their capabilities to provide the Extended Range Attack Munition...

5d agoRead it on Defense News
5d ago
Kris Osborn • Warrior Maven

LGM-35 Sentinel ICBM on Track for 2030

Heavier, faster, more lethal, cyber hardened and more reliable are just a few of the attributes woven into the US Air Force’s new Sentinel ICBM, a...

5d agoRead it on Warrior Maven
6d ago
Robbin Laird • DEFENSE.info

The Requirement for Air Combat Mass and Depth in the Indo-Pacific

For three decades, “generation” has been a word we attach to aircraft: fourth, fifth, now sixth. The label implies that the next step forward is a...

6d agoRead it on DEFENSE.info
1w ago
Matthew Cox • Air & Space Forces Magazine

Air Force Should Buy 250 Blended-Wing Tankers, as 2027 Demo Looms

A new think tank analysis finds a hypothetical blended-wing body tanker could offer twice as much refueling performance as the KC-46A Pegasus...

1w agoRead it on Air & Space Forces Magazine