Instructor pilots and a student fly a training sortie in two T-38C Talons, August 2024. (Senior Airman Ashley Crist/U.S. Air Force) U.S. Air Force pilots graduating from training courses with the T-38 Talon may be required to fly non-fighter or bomber aircraft as a result of pilot shortages,

A new Air Force policy may require recent T-38 Talon pilot training graduates to fly aircraft other than fighters or bombers, even if those are their preferred options, in an attempt to fill the ongoing aviator shortage.

The shortage of U.S. Air Force pilots could mean that recent T-38 pilot-training graduates could be assigned to non-combat roles.

As a program, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – aka the Lightning II – has survived a lot of turbulence in the roughly 30 years since the Pentagon first conceived of a do-it-all stealth fighter.

The B-52J is the latest upgrade to the B-52 Stratofortress, a bomber that has been in service since the 1950s. This modernization includes new Rolls-Royce F130 engines for increased fuel efficiency and a quieter,