United States Air Force

(Newser) - There’s fury on Capitol Hill (and the campaign trail) over a $40 billion Air Force contract going to a European team, Mark Thompson notes in Time , but it’s entirely appropriate for the military to get the best technology it can. Indeed, anger over the snub to Boeing shows lawmakers at their worst, worrying about hometown pork instead of defense needs. More »

(Newser) - Boeing is calling for an “immediate debriefing” on the Air Force's choice of a foreign company to build its fuel tankers, Bloomberg reports. The selection of Airbus and Northrop Grumman is to be the subject of a scheduled March 12 meeting, but Boeing says that isn’t protocol. “We would expect this briefing to occur within days, not weeks, of the announcement,” said a company rep. More »

(Newser) - Tomorrow's most delegate-rich primary states, Ohio and Texas, are key to the US war effort and staunchly support the troops—but remain divided over whether to stay or quit a conflict that has cost 4,000 US lives and $500 billion. And between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the one hand, and John McCain on the other, they are offered a stark choice of fight or flight. More »

(Newser) - Years of careful strategy and an alliance between executives was the key to Airbus nailing a $40 billion deal to build Air Force planes, reports the Wall Street Journal . The Pentagon’s decision last week is “a transformational shift in the way weapons systems are acquired. It’s an acknowledgment that globalization is real," said Ralph Crosby Jr., the top US executive for Airbus parent EADS. More »

(Newser) - From lawmakers to Boeing workers, Washington state is outraged today that the Air Force handed a $35 billion contract to foreign firm Airbus and Northrop Grumman, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. One worker called it "a sad day for Boeing," and a senior senator  blasted the Air Force for planning to "put an American sticker on a plane and call it American." Boeing and lawmakers are each considering formal complaints. More »

(Newser) - The Air Force shocked observers yesterday by handing a $40 billion contract to build aerial refueling tankers to a foreign company, the Los Angeles Times reports. Northrop Grumman and Airbus—which plan to build the 179 tankers in France—beat out Washington state's Boeing. Outraged lawmakers from Washington state called the move “a blow to the American aerospace industry," the New York Times reports. More »

(Newser) - A B-2 stealth bomber crashed after takeoff from a US base in Guam this morning—the first-ever failure for the $1.2 billion bat-winged craft, AP reports. Thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from the wreckage, one witness said. Both pilots successfully ejected and are in good condition; one has already been released.  More »

(Newser) - An Air Force panel told Congress yesterday that "diminished focus" on nuclear weapons allowed six nuclear-armed missiles to be accidentally flown across the country last August, Reuters reports. "Training in nuclear procedures became less frequent without the daily activity required by nuclear alert conditions," the panel concludes in its written report. More »

(Newser) - US fighter jets intercepted Russian bombers near the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz south of Japan today, Reuters reports. In an apparently tense moment, one of the Russian "Bear" bombers flew over the deck of the carrier. Four US F18 fighters took off from the Nimitz to escort the hostile aircraft out of the area. More »