USAF Lt. Gen. Walter E. Buchanan III, head of Central Command’s air forces, loves UAVs, but they are at the heart of his nightmare scenario. Every service is flying UAVs in uncoordinated fashion over Iraq and Afghanistan, he told defense reporters Thursday, noting that some 1,000 of these remotely piloted aircraft—small and large—are crowding the skies over Southwest Asia, most flying below 3,000 feet. Already, there have been some close calls. (See “The Clash of the UAV Tribes,” in the September 2005 Air Force Magazine.) “That is a very thick environment,” he noted. He then added, “My fear is the day will come when we have a C-130 full of troops and [a UAV] is going to come through the cockpit and take out a C-130 because we did not deconflict.”
PHOTOS: Air Force Shows Off Second B-21 in New Images
Sept. 12, 2025
On Sept. 12, the Air Force released half a dozen new photos of the second B-21 bomber to fly, giving observers and aviation enthusiasts another glimpse of the secretive Raider.
