Air Force

The European Union on Thursday announced that it is seeking $12 billion worth of annual trade sanctions against the United States and accused the U.S. of failing to abide by a World Trade Organization ruling governing subsidies to aircraft giant Boeing.

The sanctions threat is the latest turn in the decades-long Boeing-Airbus trade war that periodically threatens to undermine European-U.S. relations. The Boeing case involved Defense Department and NASA contracts.

The U.S. has won a victory in a separate case that found European members states illegally subsidized Airbus.

Secretary Panetta called for a review of basic training procedures after a widespread sex scandal at Lackland Air Force Base.

The Pentagon's most expensive weapons program in history won't receive another cent from the Department of Defense and most likely from Congress, as military leaders continues to cope with the increasingly difficult fiscal forecast facing the department, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. 

The Air Force's argument that it has resolved persistent oxygen-system problems aboard the F-22 Raptor, which resulted in the death of one pilot and forced the service to ground the fleet multiple times, fell on deaf ears Thursday morning. 

McKeon said in an interview with The Hill he felt confident the Air Force would properly investigate and clean up the problem.

The commander of U.S. air forces in Europe urged African nations to pool their air assets in a NATO-type structure to more efficiently take on terrorists and traffickers, Reuters reports. 

Gen. Philip Breedlove made the remarks at a meeting of African air chiefs in Senegal. The advice comes as unrest in next-door Mali has given al Qaeda-linked militants a vast swath of territory to operate freely and potentially plan attacks in other countries in the region.

"Taking them on requires a regional approach ... by developing partnerships, countries can assist one another in meeting these requirements," Breedlove said. "We can best support these efforts by effectively deploying our air assets as an air team against these extremists."

The Mach 6 weapon, designed to hit any target around the world within an hour, eventually crash-landed into the Pacific Ocean.

Gen. Mark Welsh officially became the Air Force's newest chief of staff on Friday, taking the reins from outgoing service chief Gen. Norton Schwartz at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan to get his third star as head of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

Bogdan, who is currently deputy director of the F-35 program, would replace Navy Vice Adm. David Venlet as program chief.

Bogdan would be heading up the Pentagon’s largest weapons program ever, and one with an oft-troubled history. He must be confirmed by the Senate.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) lifted his hold Thursday on the White House’s nominee to be the next Air Force chief of staff after the two sat down for a meeting Thursday morning.

Removing the hold allowed Gen. Mark Welsh’s nomination to quickly move through the Senate. He was confirmed to be the next Air Force chief in a batch of nominees passed by unanimous consent Thursday evening.