The US Air Force is the air service branch of the United States military. The US Air Force maintains four bases in the state of Massachusetts: the Barnes National Air Guard Base in Westfield, the Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, the Otis Air National Guard Base in Sandwhich, and the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee and Ludlow.
The US Air Force and the US military broadly exist to enforce the US hegemonic and unilateral control over global affairs, through physical occupations of territory, mass murder, support for right-wing forces who engage in mass murder, economic warfare through US sanctions (which currently deny essential resources to a quarter of the world's population), and the intentional and planned destabilization of nations attempting independent development outside of the dictates of the so-called "rules-based international order." The US Air Force makes frequent use of the over 750 military bases and other military installations and infrastructure the US maintains worldwide, which, in addition to physically occupying sovereign territory, cause massive environmental destruction and health harm and precipitate widespread sexual violence against the indigenous and other Global South peoples. The US Military is one of the world's primary culprits for climate destruction: Since 2001, the US military has contributed 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. In the year of 2017 alone, the US Air Force purchased $4.9 billion worth of fuel (the Navy bought $2.8 billion, the Army $947 million, the Marines $36 million), contributing over half of the total 59 million metric tons of greenhouse gases that the US military emitted into the atmosphere that year--a carbon footprint greater than that of the majority of countries worldwide.
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Amazon has made $4.30 million to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air force. This figure does not include military contracts Amazon holds through third party vendors, nor does it include the Pentagon's multi-billion dollar "Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) program," for which the US DoD "issued formal solicitations" to Amazon and Microsoft and which Amazon is likely to be awarded.
BAE Systems has made $10.27 billion to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. Recently in 2021, BAE systems won a contract to worth up to $600 million to supply the US Air Force with "support equipment for [its] international F-16 fleet aircraft."
Boston Consulting Group has received numerous US DoD contracts to provide consulting services for the US Air Force. See for example: here and here. Full list of US DoD contracts BCG has received available here.
Boston Dynamics has received $817,061 to date from US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Gemini Industries has received $32.56 million to date through US Department of Defense (DoD) contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. According to the company's website: "Gemini has the privilege of supporting the US Air Force. We have supported Acquisition Category I thru III programs including Joint STARS, AWACS, TBMCS, Air Operations Center (AOC), and classified programs. And we have performed analyses and capability based assessments, and tests to support aircraft platforms and Unmanned Aerial System programs."
Northeastern University boasts that the Kostas Research Institute is home to the US "Air Force programs of record."
L3Harris has derived $11.82 billion to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. Recently, in September 2021, the US Air Force awarded L3Harris a 10-year, $85-million contract for the provision of "robots, robotics support, maintenance and training" to "help protect its bases around the world."
Lockheed Martin has derived $154.31 billion to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
McKinsey has derived $73.89 million to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of consulting services to the US Air Force.
Microsoft has derived $305.47 billion to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
As of April 2022, Noble Supply & Logistics has received $157.78 million from US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Northrop Grumman has made $46.76 billion to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Raytheon has made $28.06 billion through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Harvard Law School hosted the US Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps to present to Harvard Law School students at HLS's 2022 OPIA Virtual Networking Reception.
The US Air Force, MIT, and MIT Lincoln Labs partner to run the "USAF-AI MIT AI accelerator." The USAF-AI MIT AI accelerator brings MIT faculty, students, and researches together with US military officials and MIT Lincoln Labs employees, who work together to ensure that the US Air Force has access to the latest technologies. According to the propaganda MIT put out about the project:
The Department of the Air Force (DAF) subsequently signed a cooperative agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to jointly create an Artificial Intelligence Accelerator hosted at MIT. The effort, known as the DAF-MIT AI Accelerator, leverages the combined expertise and resources of MIT and the Department of the Air Force. The AI Accelerator conducts fundamental research to enable rapid prototyping, scaling, and the ethical application of AI algorithms and systems to advance both the Department of the Air Force and society in general. A multidisciplinary team of embedded officers and enlisted Airmen join MIT faculty, researchers, and students to tackle some of the most difficult challenges facing our nation and the Department of the Air Force, ranging from the technical to the humanitarian.
In January of 2020, the AI Accelerator launched ten interdisciplinary projects, involving researchers from MIT Campus, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and the Department of the Air Force. The three-year projects, which encompass a total of 15 research workstreams, advance AI research in a broad range of areas, including weather modeling and visualization, optimization of training schedules, and autonomy for augmenting and amplifying human decision-making.
The AI Accelerator’s historic partnership embraces a robust and ongoing dialogue with America’s leading academics and technologists to help guide an AI future for the Department of Air Force that reflects our nation’s values.
The USAF-AI MIT AI accelerator project is emblematic of the deep integration which exists between elite institutions of knowledge production (like MIT) and the US military industrial complex.
The US Air Force maintains a joint lab with MIT called the "USAF-AI MIT AI accelerator," through which MIT faculty members and students work with US military, members of MIT Lincoln Labs, and other stalwarts of the US military industrial complex to make sure the US Air Force has access to the latest technologies. According to the propaganda on the "accelerator's" website: "The Department of the Air Force (DAF) subsequently signed a cooperative agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to jointly create an Artificial Intelligence Accelerator hosted at MIT. The effort, known as the DAF-MIT AI Accelerator, leverages the combined expertise and resources of MIT and the Department of the Air Force. The AI Accelerator conducts fundamental research to enable rapid prototyping, scaling, and the ethical application of AI algorithms and systems to advance both the Department of the Air Force and society in general. A multidisciplinary team of embedded officers and enlisted Airmen join MIT faculty, researchers, and students to tackle some of the most difficult challenges facing our nation and the Department of the Air Force, ranging from the technical to the humanitarian."
Lenco is the sole supplier of armored vehicles to the US Air Force Global Strike Command.
Industrial Video & Control (IVC) has provided equipment to the U.S. Air Force.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (along with HPE's parent company HP, from whom HP split in 2016) has derived $1.54 billion to date through contracts with the US Department of Defense (DoD), including multiple multi-million contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Harvard hosted the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Harvard's Fall 2021 UCAN Internship Career Fair.
Odyssey Systems has derived $1.26 billion to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. In November 2021, the US Air Force awarded Odyssey Systems along with 55 other contractors a digital engineering contract aimed at improving the US Air Force's "ability to work on digital designs of its future platforms." The contract is worth a potential $46 billion total over the next 11 years, which will be shared between Odyssey and the other 55 contractors.
Harvard Kennedy School and the US Air force have created multiple fellowships aimed at recruiting US Air Force service members to pursue degrees at HKS (see: here and here). The Air Force's CSAF Scholars Master Fellowship, for example, aims to "prepare mid-career, experienced professionals to return to the Air Force ready to assume significant leadership positions in an increasingly complex environment." In 2016, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Doug Elmendorf welcomed Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to Harvard Kennedy School, in a speech in which Elmendorf highlighted his satisfaction that the ROTC program, including Air Force ROTC, which had been reinstated at Harvard (ROTC had been removed from campus following mass faculty protests in 1969).
Draper Labs has received $178.01 million to date from US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
In November 2021, the US Air Force awarded Draper along with 55 other contractors a digital engineering contract aimed improving the US Air Force's "ability to work on digital designs of its future platforms." The contract is worth a potential $46 billion total, which will be shared between Draper and the other contractors over the next 11 years.
General Dynamics Mission Systems has made $102.93 million to date through US Department of Defense contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. (See for example: here and here.)
General Dynamics Information Technology has received $13.71 billion to date from US Department of Defense contracts for the provision of products and services to branches of the US military, including contracts worth hundreds of millions USD for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
General Dynamics has received $8.34 billion to date through US Department of Defense (DoD) contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Excelitas Technologies has received $1.25 million to date through US Department of Defense (DoD) contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
Elbit systems has derived $275.03 million to date through US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. Recently in 2020, Elbit announced that it had been selected by the US Air force to "compete for future task orders within the service’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (ID/IQ)," a system through which the US Air Force aims to "develop and operate systems as a unified force across all domains (air, land, sea, space, cyber, and electromagnetic spectrum) in an open architecture family of systems that enables capabilities via multiple integrated platforms."
Tufts University hosted the U.S. Air Force to present to Tufts students at the University's Spring 2020 general career fair.
In August 2017, CDM Smith along with its joint venture partner CAPE Environmental Management (CAPE) won an 11-year $950 million joint contract with US Air Force Facility Civil Engineering Command to "design and construction of new facilities, as well as repair and restore existing infrastructure within the United States and around the globe." A CDM Smith press release on the contract notes: "Projects under the $950 million contract include military family housing, fueling systems, range construction, pavement systems, and classified or highly secure facilities."
Aptima has received $124.45 million to date from US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force. In 2021, Aptima won a $5.2+ million contract from the US Air Force Research Laboratory to develop automated "air combat simulation" programs to train military pilots.
General Electric has derived $7.27 billion to date from US Department of Defense contracts for the supply of engines and other products and services to the US Air Force. Recently in October 2021, the US Air Force awarded General Electric a single $1.58 billion contract to supply F110 engines for the US Air Force's fleet of Boeing F-15EX Eagle II warplanes.
Boeing has received $139.14 billion to date from US DoD contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.
iRobot has derived $3.34 million to date through US Department of Defense contracts for the provision of products and services to the US Air Force.