Brian Everstine is the Pentagon Editor for Aviation Week, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining Aviation Week in August 2021, Brian covered the Pentagon for Air Force Magazine. Brian began covering defense aviation in 2011 as a reporter for Military Times. Over a decade as a defense journalist, he has reported from dozens of bases at home and abroad, including austere airstrips in Afghanistan, the cockpit of a B-52 over the South Pacific and the boom operator station of a KC-46. Before the military beat, Brian covered the Washington state legislature for the Associated Press.
The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin this month are finishing a major modernization program to integrate AIM-9X Block 2 and AIM-120D missiles onto the F-22 and recently began an incremental update program that will see the Raptor better able to communicate with other aircraft.
U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft are flying about eight sorties per day over Afghanistan to watch for ISIS-K and other threats after one month of no activity, according to newly released U.S. Air Force numbers.
The U.S. Navy and Boeing recently completed deck-handling tests on the company’s MQ-25 test asset, showing how the refueling drone will be able to integrate with carrier operations.
