The pilot of an F-15 flying an air-to-air training mission out of Okinawa bailed out of his fighter before it crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 10 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2005. About 20 minutes later, an Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk team from the 33rd Rescue Squadron at Kadena Air Base, picked up the pilot, who is with Kadena’s 44th Fighter Squadron. Air Force officials say the fighter was a 1978-vintage F-15, tail # 498.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.