Air force

Today in History

Oct. 27, 2020 12:00 AM EDT

Today in History Today is Tuesday, Oct. 27, the 301st day of 2020. There are 65 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 27, 1904, the first rapid transit subway, the IRT, was inaugurated in New York City. On this date: In 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of...

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media, in Istanbul, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. Erdogan confirmed the country tested its Russian-made missile defense system, despite objections from the United States. Speaking after Friday prayers in Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had every right to test its equipment. (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

Trump administration slams NATO ally Turkey for weapon test

Oct. 23, 2020 4:47 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday slammed Turkey for taking a new step toward fielding a Russian-made air defense weapon. The U.S. complaint marked a deepening rift that threatens the future of a security relationship that has been central to the NATO military alliance for seven decades....

In this 2019 photo, provided by Amy Sue Borja Santos, is her father, Vicente Borja at a Veteran of the Year ceremony in Ypao Beach, Guam. Vicente Borja is one of six former Hawaii residents who are living in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands suing to be able to vote by absentee ballot for president. Their federal lawsuit filed late Thursday, Oct, 8, 2020, says they are being treated like

Ex-Hawaii residents in territories seek presidential voting

Oct. 9, 2020 5:02 PM EDT

HONOLULU (AP) — Six former Hawaii residents who now live in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands want to be able to vote by absentee ballot for president. They are being treated like “second-class citizens” because of where they live, they said in a federal lawsuit filed late Thursday in U.S....

FILE - In this March 31, 2020, file photo a U.S. Army soldier walks inside a mobile surgical unit being set up by soldiers from Fort Carson, Col., and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) as part of a field hospital inside CenturyLink Field Event Center, in Seattle. Military suicides have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period last year, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked, as service members struggle with isolation and other impacts of COVID-19 added to the pressures of war-zone deployments and responding to national disasters and civil unrest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Military suicides up as much as 20% in COVID era

Sep. 27, 2020 11:34 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military suicides have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under COVID-19, war-zone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest. While the data is incomplete and...

Czechs to acquire Israeli air defense system in $400M deal

Sep. 25, 2020 6:34 AM EDT

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic wants to buy a new air defense system for its military from the Israeli government, the defense ministry said on Friday. The Czechs want to acquire the SPYDER system, which is made by the Israeli state-run company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and is capable of...

General becomes 1st Black head of U.S. Air Force Academy

Sep. 23, 2020 9:34 PM EDT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. Air Force Academy installed a new superintendent who will be the first Black officer to lead the military institution. Lt. Gen. Richard Clark also became the first former commandant of cadets to return to the top position at the academy near Colorado Springs, The...

French Health Minister Olivier Veran points to a graphic on the virus situation in central France during a press conference in Paris, Wednesday Sept. 23, 2020. French Health Minister Olivier Veran announced the closure of all restaurants and bars in the Marseille region and restrictions across a dozen other cities to stem the resurgent spread of the virus. With COVID-19 patients now occupying more than 10% of France's intensive care beds, Veran stopped short of imposing new lockdowns, but urged people to resume working from home and stop gathering with big groups of family and friends. (Eliot Blondet/Pool via AP)

French defense chief misled nation on troops' virus safety

Sep. 23, 2020 4:56 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France’s defense minister admitted to misleading the nation about virus protections for air force personnel who evacuated French citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan last winter, and have been suspected of links to France’s first confirmed COVID-19 cluster. The revelation by...

In this photo released by the U.S. Air Force, Capt. Ryan Vickers stands for a photo to display his new service tapes after taking his oath of office to transfer from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Space Force at Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. Space Force, the first new U.S. military service since the creation of the Air Force in 1947, now has some 20 members stationed at Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base in its first foreign deployment. (Staff Sgt. Kayla White/U.S. Air Force via AP)

US Space Force deploys to vast new frontier: Arabian Desert

Sep. 21, 2020 2:01 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The newly formed U.S. Space Force is deploying troops to a vast new frontier: the Arabian Peninsula. Space Force now has a squadron of 20 airmen stationed at Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base in its first foreign deployment. The force, pushed by President Donald Trump,...

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu pose for a selfie with U.S. Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, right, during a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. China's military sent 18 planes including fighter jets over the Taiwan Strait in an unusually large show of force Monday as a U.S. envoy held a day of closed-door meetings on the self-governing island claimed by China. (Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)

China flies 18 warplanes near Taiwan during US envoy's visit

Sep. 18, 2020 8:09 AM EDT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s military sent 18 planes including fighter jets over the Taiwan Strait in an unusually large show of force Friday as a U.S. envoy held a day of closed-door meetings on the self-governing island claimed by China. Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, who handles the...

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber, assigned to the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, lands during exercise Lightning Focus at Royal Australian Air Force Base (RAAF) in Darwin, Australia, Dec. 6, 2018. The U.S. Air Force flew three B-1 heavy bombers over the East Siberian Sea, north of Russia’s far east, as part of recent maneuvers that the military said Friday are meant to demonstration of American capabilities and ability to support allies, but which a Russian commander blasted as “hostile and provocative.” The flight of the three Texas-based U.S. Air Force Reserve B-1 Lancer bombers on Thursday followed a similar mission a week ago in which three temporarily Britain-based B-52 bombers were flown over Ukrainian airspace, near Russia’s western flank. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Quail via AP)

US flies heavy B-1 Lancer bombers over East Siberian Sea

Sep. 11, 2020 10:20 AM EDT

BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. Air Force flew three B-1 heavy bombers over the East Siberian Sea, north of Russia's far east, as part of a series of recent maneuvers that the military said Friday are meant to demonstrate American capabilities and ability to support allies, but which a top Russian commander blasted...

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