Tag: usaf

Sophisticated drones attacked Louisiana’s Barksdale bomber base

Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, in Bossier Parish not far from Shreveport, was attacked by drone swarms during the week of March 9. The attack disrupted B-52H aircraft launches in support of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. It is the first time a US airbase was temporarily put out of operation in wartime, something that never happened even in World War II.

Each wave forced the Air Force to halt operations and send its personnel to shelters. Barksdale is the command hub of the US Air Force Global Strike Command. Not only are B-52s based there, but the base is part of America’s nuclear triad. It shelters long range nuclear cruise missiles (such as the AGM-86B) and will soon house a new Long Range Standoff cruise missile. Shelters and storage sites for the new missiles are under construction.

The only other significant US airbase for B-52s is in Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. Both bases are supporting Epic Fury. The aircraft can either fly to the UK and then on to Iran, or (as they did during the period when the UK blocked them) fly directly from Barksdale to Iran, a very long mission requiring eight in-air refuelings.

The drone waves lasted around four hours each day, an extraordinarily long loiter time for a drone. It is not known if the drones were fixed wing or quadcopter types, or how they were powered (liquid fuel or electrical). Each wave consisted of 12 to 15 drones, and the drones flew with their lights on, intentionally making them visible.

Barksdale AFB does not have air defenses, nor does it have fighter jets that can take down drones.

The airbase does have some electronic countermeasures that were designed to disable GPS and the datalinks between the drones and their remote operators. The electronic countermeasures failed to work.

The drones themselves may have been autonomous or semi-autonomous, and operated in ways suggesting the drones were equipped with multiple sensors that directed the behavior of each drone over the base and in response to attempts at jamming.

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Siblings Indicted in Alleged IED Plot at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, One Suspect Believed to Have Fled to China

Alen Zheng and his sister, Ann Mary Zheng, have been indicted in connection with a possible improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. MacDill is home to CENTCOM and U.S. Special Operations Command.

On March 16, 2026, a suspicious package was discovered outside the Visitor Control Center at the Dale Mabry Gate of MacDill, which appeared to have “possible energetic materials.”

Following the discovery, the gate and nearby roads were shut down for about 6–7 hours while first responders and the FBI investigated. The device was described as potentially “very deadly” if it had detonated, though it did not explode.

The base raised its threat level to FPCON Charlie (the second-highest force protection condition, indicating a serious incident has occurred) and implemented heightened security.

On March 26, 2026,  federal prosecutors unsealed indictments against the pair. Alen, who has allegedly already fled to China, is accused of planting the device.

He faces charges including:

  • Attempted damage to government property by fire or explosion
  • Unlawful making of a destructive device
  • Possession of an unregistered destructive device
  • He is currently believed to be in China and remains at large.

His sister is facing charges of accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence.

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Air Force Officer Continues His Fight Against Vindictiveness and Intolerance Over COVID-19 Shot Mandate

An Air Force officer continues to battle one of the most egregious cases of vindictiveness and intolerance stemming from the military’s 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate, which was rescinded in January 2023 and deemed “unlawful as implemented” across all military departments in May 2025.

Following up on a story from September 2025, The Gateway Pundit spoke to Captain Anthony Monteleone to get an update on his case at the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR).

On July 8, 2025, as directed by the Department of War, Capt. Monteleone submitted his packet to the AFBCMR to correct the harms from the unlawful mandate in collaboration with his attorney, Jeffrey Addicott, Director of the Warrior Defense Project, and Mike Rose, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services (STARRS).

Two months later, on September 03, 2025, the AFBCMR denied his application, stating that his request “falls outside the jurisdiction of the AFBCMR,” and then reversed itself and accepted his case due to the directives from President Donald Trump and War Department leadership.

However, a grueling nine months after he submitted his package, and despite Congressional Representatives and multiple high-ranking Air Force officials reaching out to the AFBCMR on several occasions on behalf of Capt. Monteleone to stress the immediate need for relief in his case, the Board continues to delay the processing of his package.

As reported multiple times by The Gateway Pundit, numerous service members claim that the BCMR process is largely ineffective and that the Board’s willingness to engage amounts to little more than a superficial effort.

In short, despite the explicit directives from President Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata, and the Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink, Capt. Monteleone continues to have active derogatory paperwork in his personnel file. He is still experiencing significant and ongoing damage to his career due to the unlawful COVID-19 shot mandate, which is solely attributed to the prolonged time it is taking for the Board to review his case.

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‘Multiple waves’ of unauthorized drones recently spotted over strategic US Air Force base

A drone sighting that temporarily raised alarms at one of the United States Air Force’s largest and most strategic airfields earlier this month was more extensive, and potentially more dangerous, than first reported, according to a confidential internal briefing document reviewed by ABC News.

Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana said it was under a shelter-in-place order March 9 after “a report of an unmanned aerial system operating over the installation.”

The sighting raised concerns because Barksdale houses long-range B-52 bombers and plays a critical role in command and control of the Air Force nuclear defense capabilities.

The shelter-in-place order was lifted later that day but the unauthorized drone flights continued for nearly a week.

“Barksdale Air Force Base detected multiple unauthorized drones operating in our airspace during the week of March 9th,” Capt. Hunter Rininger of the 2nd Bomb Wing said in a statement provided to ABC News. The additional drone incursions had not been previously reported.

According to the confidential briefing document dated March 15, the drones came in waves and entered and exited the base in a way that may suggest attempts to “avoid the operator(s) being located.” Lights on the drones suggested the operators “may be testing security responses” at the base.

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Air Force Special Operations Wants Backpack-Sized Kamikaze Drones

The U.S. Air Force is seeking small, backpack-portable one-way attack drones for its special operations forces, according to a request for information (RFI) posted this week.

“Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Special Tactics units currently lack a purpose-built First-Person View (FPV) unmanned capability,” the RFI notes. “This deficit restricts the force’s ability to employ FPV systems in specialized mission sets and limits the development of standardized Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures essential for modern, high-intensity conflict.”

According to the RFI, AFSOC wants the drones to be capable of striking targets up to 12 miles away with a fragmentation warhead weighing 3 to 6.5 pounds. The system must be launch-ready in under three minutes and able to operate in GPS-denied environments.

“This system needs to integrate Global Positioning System (GPS), 4G/LTE/5G cellular connectivity, true frequency hopping between bands, and an optional repeater to extend operational range to over 20 kilometers,” the RFI said.

The systems are expected to integrate with handheld controllers and the Android Team Awareness Kit, or ATAK, used by small military units for battlefield awareness and targeting.

Companies have until April 17 to respond to the RFI. 

The Pentagon plans to spend $1.1 billion over the next 18 months on its Drone Dominance program, an initiative launched in December aimed at testing and purchasing more than 200,000 drones of various sizes by January 2028, Owen West, the Pentagon’s senior adviser on the program, said during a March 5 congressional hearing.

The program is intended in part to build a domestic industry around small drones to enable higher production volumes at lower costs.

In its initial phase, the Pentagon is paying about $5,000 for each “Group 1” drone, Drone Dominance program manager Travis Metz said during the hearing. He added that by the end of the program the goal is to “get down to less than $2,000 for a one-way kamikaze attack drone.”

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DoW Identifies Air Force Casualties

The Department of War announced the death of six Air Force Airmen who were supporting Operation Epic Fury.

Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky., were assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. and Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Columbus, Ohio.

The six Airmen died on March 12, 2026, in the crash of a KC-135 in western Iraq. The incident is under investigation.

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Missing retired US Air Force general has ‘UFO community’ ties, his wife says amid kidnapping speculation

Missing retired US Air Force General William “Neil” McCasland had a “brief association with the UFO community” – but doesn’t have inside intel on “ET bodies” that would be worth kidnapping him over, his wife has said.

Susan McCasland Wilkerson attempted to clear up what she called “misinformation” around her husband’s nearly two-week disappearance after he was last spotted in Albuquerque on Feb. 27.

McCasland, 68, led the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson base in Ohio, which is long rumored to hold extraterrestrial debris tied to the 1947 Roswell crash.

“Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt,” Wilkerson wrote on Facebook on March 6.

However, Wilkerson revealed that McCasland had a “brief association” after his retirement with former Blink-182 front man Tom DeLonge, who co-founded a company that studies information about unidentified aerial phenomena, according to CNN.

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Trump appoints Erika Kirk to Air Force Academy board

President Donald Trump has appointed Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, to fill a seat on the Air Force Academy’s Board of Visitors.

Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative group Turning Point USA, was a member of the Board of Visitors and attended a meeting before his assassination in September.

His wife, Erika Kirk has taken over has CEO of Turning Point USA since his death. The group says it has more than 800 chapters on college campuses nationwide. It also hosted the alternative half-time show during the Super Bowl featuring Kid Rock.

As a Board of Visitors member, Erika Kirk is one of 16 members responsible for making recommendations to the Secretary of Defense about changes at the Air Force Academy. The board also includes members of Congress including 5th Congressional District Rep. Jeff Crank of Colorado Springs along with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Chairman Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, among others.

The board did not announce her appointment. But her name now appears on the list of members.

Turning Point USA said Erika Kirk was unavailable to respond to questions about her Board of Visitors appointment.

During his short time on the board, Charlie Kirk drew attention to the construction delays at the chapel and encouraged the school to emphasize what sets America apart.

“It’s imperative that these cadets know that we are the greatest nation ever,” he said, the board meeting in August.

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 at a college event in Orem, Utah.

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Three US F-15 Fighter Jets Shot Down in Kuwait

Three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets crashed in Kuwait after being struck with friendly fire on Sunday.

In a press release, U.S. CENTCOM stated, “At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.”

U.S. CENTCOM added, “The cause of the incident is under investigation.”

Videos of the incident show one of the F-15Es on fire and circling the air as it was free-falling before eventually crashing into the ground.

Per U.S. CENTCOM:

At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.

During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.

All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.

The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.

CNN reported a bystander could be heard in one of the videos of the jet falling, saying, “The American aircraft was shot down by their own missile. We came here thinking it was an Iranian jet. It turned out to be American. Come on, guys, get in the car. Let’s go.

The aircraft’s pilot appeared to eject before impact and safely landed.

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Ex-Air Force pilot arrested for allegedly training Chinese military pilots without authorization

A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who once trained American servicemembers on advanced combat aircraft, including the F-35, has been arrested and accused of illegally training Chinese military pilots, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., whose call sign is “Runner,” was taken into custody in Jeffersonville, Ind., and charged with providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization.

Prosecutors allege Brown violated the Arms Export Control Act, a federal law that regulates the export of U.S. defense articles, services and military technology and requires government approval before they can be shared with foreign governments or nationals.

“The United States Air Force trained Major Brown to be an elite fighter pilot and entrusted him with the defense of our Nation. He now stands charged with training Chinese military pilots,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said. “When U.S. persons – whether military or civilian – provide training to a foreign military, that activity is illegal unless they have a license from the State Department.”

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