The Department of Defense is reopening the bitter competition for a $35 billion military aircraft program that likely would include replacing some of the 16 aging KC-135 tankers now flown out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. ...more

July 10, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense has decided to reopen the competition for a $40 billion military aircraft program that likely would include replacing some of the 16 aging KC-135 tankers now flown out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. ...more

July 9, 2008

Imagine a President McCain or a President Obama receiving the following top-secret briefing from his national security adviser: "Iran has successfully developed a nuclear warhead and may have already mated it with a medium-range Shahab-3 missile targeted at Israel. A preemptive strike could trigger a nuclear exchange. What do we do, Mr. President?" ...more

July 6, 2008

Militants killed more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in June than in Iraq for the second straight month, a grim milestone capping a run of headline-grabbing insurgent attacks that analysts say underscore the Taliban's growing strength. ...more

July 1, 2008

An audit agency's recommendation that the Air Force reopen bidding on a contract to build a new generation of aerial refueling planes almost certainly means the Air Force will fail to put the planes into service starting in 2013, as planned, the service's departing civilian chief said Friday. ...more

June 21, 2008

Backed by helicopters firing missiles, hundreds of NATO and Afghan forces hunted Taliban militants in villages outside Kandahar on Wednesday, killing dozens of insurgents. ...more

June 19, 2008

Regarding "Gates Ousts Air Force Leaders" (front page, June 6): I commend Defense Secretary Robert Gates for his decisive action in removing Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley from their posts as a result of the investigation over control of nuclear weapons and their components. ...more

June 9, 2008

He didn't shoot from the hip, but when Defense Secretary Robert Gates finally felt sure he knew what was going wrong in the Air Force, he took steady aim at the top and fired both barrels. ...more

June 7, 2008

The Air Force's senior civilian official and its highest-ranking general were ousted by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday after an inquiry into the mishandling of nuclear weapons and components found systemic problems in the Air Force. ...more

June 6, 2008

Myanmar's ruling junta, faced with global outrage about its low-key response to last month's deadly cyclone, said Sunday that recovery from the catastrophe will be speedy and extolled the country's leaders for their actions in the crisis. ...more

June 2, 2008