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.
As the U.S. Air Force prepares to base its first F-35As in Europe later this year, the service has increased its ability to train with local nations that fly the aircraft, established a local way to train with live-fire missiles, and even brought in international partners to its air operations center to work more closely together.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is not satisfied with progress on testing hypersonic weapons and said the service has not clearly determined what a role for the weapons would be.
Boeing has resolved the “wing rock” issue facing the T-7A Red Hawk trainer, but production is still slowed by ongoing COVID-19-related parts shortages.
