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KR Manalo • SlashGear

Why U.S. Air Force Is Discontinuing The B-1B Lancer

After some impressive years in service, ht e B-1B Lancer is on its way out of the US Air Force, but why now and what will come to replace the jet.

08/21/25Read it on SlashGear
5,498 stories
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
1w ago
Howard Altman • The WarZone

Confessions Of An SR-71 Blackbird Pilot

What it was like to sit at the controls of the Skunk Works' legendary Blackbird while hurtling over hostile territory at Mach 3.3....

1w agoRead it on The WarZone
1w ago
Laura Heckmann • National Defense Magazine

Air Force Exploring Creative Ways to Produce More Pilots

The Air Force has been battling a chronic pilot shortage for the better part of a decade, and its leaders have said it will take at least that long...

1w agoRead it on National Defense Magazine