US Air Force News

News about US Air Force

California Guards MedEvac Cruise 740 Km Offshore

10-May-24 - The California Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the 129th Rescue Squadron completed a medical evacuation (MedEvac) of a passenger from the Ovation of the Seas cruise liner, approximately 400 nautical miles ( 740 kilometers! ) from the San Francisco coast, by conducting aerial refueling from an HC-130J Hercules tanker aircraft #california

New Order for MH-139A, US Air Force Totals 26

29-Apr-24 - With a new contract for 7 helicopters, Leonardo and Boeing now have orders for 26 MH-139A Grey Wolves. Initial plans called for 84 helicopters to replace the Bell UH-1N, but the latest budgets confirmed 42 through FY 2029 #Boeing

Osprey Crew Virtual Reality Simulator

20-Apr-24 - Boeing unveiled the Special Mission Aviator Ramp Trainer (SMART) device, developed with Bluedrop USA, that uses mixed and virtual reality to prepare US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) Bell/Boeing CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircrews for high-risk scenarios in a low-risk, low-cost environment #Osprey

USAF 1st Helicopter Squadron 80th Anniversary

16-Apr-24 - US Air Force 1st Helicopter Squadron (1st HS) based out of Joint Base Andrews (JBA), Maryland and in charge to provide priority airlift for national-level civil and military senior leadership in the National Capital Region celebrating its 80th anniversary #Andrews

Alabama Receives its First MH-139A Grey Wolf

03-Apr-24 - US Air Force 908th Operations Group received its first Leonardo/Boeing MH-139A Grey Wolf starting the Wing’s transition from an airlift mission to becoming the formal training unit for this helicopter #Alabama

A USAF UH-1N Helicopter Reaches 55 Years of Service

02-Apr-24 - A Bell UH-1N Twin Huey helicopter assigned to the US Air Force’s 58th Special Operations Wing (SOW), 512th Rescue Squadron, has reached 20,000 flight hours, five times its original life expectancy. This is only the third Huey to reach this milestone #veteran

USAF Reduces MH-139 Order by Half

20-Mar-24 - The Leonardo/Boeing MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter order totals 42 helicopters throughout FY 2029 #FY25

Two Joby eVTOLs for USAF MacDilll AFB

19-Mar-24 - Joby Aviation expands partnership with the US Air Force, will deliver two electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) to MacDill AFB in 2025 for the AFWERX Agility Prime contract #evTOL

Entrol Bell 505 Simulators for CAE USAF IFT-R Training

26-Feb-24 - Spanish company Entrol delivered three Bell 505 helicopter simulators to CAE for the US Air Force Introductory Flight Training, Rotary Wing (IFT-R) program #simulator

USAF Evaluating the Pivotal BlackFly eVTOL

25-Feb-24 - Pivotal delivered four of eight light electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) BlackFly for evaluation to the US Air Force AFWERX program Agility Prime initiative including flight simulators, training, and support #AFWERX

P1AR Training for USAF MH-139 Special Missions Aviators

23-Feb-24 - Priority 1 Air Rescue (P1AR) awarded 5-year contract to provide training for up to 140 U.S. Air Force Boeing/Leonardo MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter Special Missions Aviators (SMAs) #aviators

Pacific Air Forces Upgrades to HH-60W

04-Feb-24 - The US Air Force’s 33d Rescue Squadron, stationed at Kadena AFB in Japan, has initiated the transition from the HH-60G Pave Hawk to the new HH-60W Jolly Green II. The 33 RQS is responsible for providing combat search and rescue (CSAR) in the Indo-Pacific region #Japan

BETA Technologies ALIA Completes USAF Trials

30-Jan-24 - BETA’s ALIA electric Conventional Take-Off and Landing (eCTOL) prototype completed a three-month evaluation with the US Air Force 413th Flight Test Squadron at Duke Field, Eglin AFB, Florida as part of the USAF Agility Prime program. This marked its first military deployment #CTOL

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