United States Air Force

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command training mission

The Union Balloon Corps and the balloon Intrepid

Boeing B-9 and P-26

P-6E planes in formation

USAF B-17 bombers

Normandy Invasion: Allied bombardment of Pointe du Hoc

USAF refueling operations during the Vietnam War

USAF F-22 Raptor

USAF E-3 Sentry

Two F-16 Fighting Falcons of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic squadron performing a "calypso" maneuver over Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, S.D., May 30, 2009.

For Students

United States Air Force summary

Read Next

Manila folders marked confidential.

6 Oddly Named U.S. Government Operations

B-52G with cruise missiles, USAF, short range attack missiles SRAMs; guided missile

11 of the World’s Most Famous Warplanes

Discover

Aspirin pills.

7 Drugs that Changed the World

Dancers at a Cinco de Mayo festival at the Mission District, San Francisco, California. (Photo dated 2019.) holidays

Is Cinco de Mayo Mexico's Independence Day?

Cathedrale St.Jean in Lyon, France has a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows religious feast days till the year 2019; Perpetual Calendar

Ten Days That Vanished: The Switch to the Gregorian Calendar

Drinking water is poured into a glass.

Water Fluoridation: Just the Facts

Berries and leaves of the bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) plant. Poisonous plant

7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

Figure 13: A Maxim machine gun, belt-fed and water-cooled, operated by German infantrymen, World War I.

7 Deadliest Weapons in History

United States Air Force: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Defense Department accepts Boeing 747 from Qatar for Trump's use • May 21, 2025, 5:56 PM ET (AP)

Trump selects concept for $175 billion 'Golden Dome' missile defense system • May 21, 2025, 2:49 AM ET (AP)

The Latest: US authorities appear to have begun deporting migrants to South Sudan, attorneys say • May 20, 2025, 7:47 PM ET (AP)

Space Force, governors at odds over plans to pull talent from National Guard units • May 15, 2025, 4:57 PM ET (AP)

Senate confirms Troy Meink, former air crewman and space expert, as the new Air Force secretary • May 13, 2025, 8:07 PM ET (AP)

Facts

Also Known As	USAF • Air Force, United States
Areas Of Involvement	air warfare
Related People	William Mitchell • Charles Q. Brown, Jr. • Edward O’Hare • Lori Robinson • John Hay Whitney • Claire L. Chennault • Henry Harley Arnold • Chuck Yeager • Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. • James H. Doolittle • Carl Spaatz • Curtis E. LeMay • Nathan F. Twining • Frank M. Andrews • Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

Photos and Videos

U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command training mission

The Union Balloon Corps and the balloon Intrepid

Boeing B-9 and P-26

P-6E planes in formation

USAF B-17 bombers

Normandy Invasion: Allied bombardment of Pointe du Hoc

USAF refueling operations during the Vietnam War

USAF F-22 Raptor

USAF E-3 Sentry

Two F-16 Fighting Falcons of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic squadron performing a "calypso" maneuver over Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, S.D., May 30, 2009.

Watch the takeoff of SR-71 Blackbird from Edwards Air Force Base, California

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Topics

Royal Air Force Flying Tigers Condor Legion

List

Manila folders marked confidential.

6 Oddly Named U.S. Government Operations

B-52G with cruise missiles, USAF, short range attack missiles SRAMs; guided missile

11 of the World’s Most Famous Warplanes