Courtesy photograph Retired Col. Lee Ellis, a prisoner of war who spent five and a half years in the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam War, spoke at the Air Force Academy’s National Character and Leadership Symposium Feb. 21-22, 2013. A prisoner of war held in the “Hanoi Hilton” for five and a half years shared…

Air Force photograph by Don Branum Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Chris Kirk developed a method that would let the Air Force purchase Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and extended range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles at significantly lower prices, saving more than $4 billion over five years. Kirk is a management major and native of…

NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has selected United Launch Services, LLC of Englewood, Colo., to provide Delta II launch services for the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 mission, currently scheduled for July 2016. A firm fixed-price launch service task order has been awarded under the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity…

Northrop Grumman has appointed Jon Remington vice president and controller of its Technical Services sector headquartered in Herndon, effective Feb. 25. Remington will oversee sector financial operations including financial planning and reporting, cash and asset management, regulatory compliance, and accounting, and will ensure compliance with internal control practices and company policies and procedures. “Jon’s more…

Navy photograph Capt. Don Zwick, Common Standards and Interoperability program manager, details the technical implementations and operational significance of the Standard Command and Control (C2) Interface Module. Engineers from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division here recently conducted a demonstration to test new technology, which allows for interoperability between unmanned air systems. In collaboration…

Boeing photograph Boeing has delivered the first 777 built at the increased production rate of 8.3 per month, or 100 airplanes per year. The airplane, a 777 Freighter, was delivered to Korean Air. In the past 32 months, the 777 program has increased its production rate twice. The rate went from five to seven per…

Valve stopped fuel flow in F-16 crash The Air Force says an F-16 flying from Japan to Alaska last July crashed at sea because a valve stopped fuel from reaching the engine. An accident investigation report released by Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii Feb. 19 says the jet’s main fuel shut-off valve was partially closed…

Courtesy photograph F-35 maintainers remove a panel on a JSF last year. Recently, the F-35 Integrated Test Force has progressed towards further operational capability as military members performed maintenance duties while wearing protective uniforms designed to preserve the warfighter and allow the sustainment of operations in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear…

Pratt & Whitney’s F117 engine, the exclusive power for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter, recently exceeded 10 million engine flight hours. At the same time, the C-17 exceeded 2.5 million flight hours while supporting military and humanitarian mission in support of U.S. and allied troops around the globe. Pratt & Whitney is a United…

ATK successfully delivered a launch abort motor to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) of NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, scheduled to fly next year. The test flight abort motor is configured with inert propellant, since the EFT-1 mission will have no crew on board, but otherwise replicates the launch abort system…