Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF’s intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance guru, has responded to a New York Times article that apparently intimated that USAF wants to “control the deployment of unmanned airplanes,” explaining—as he is doing a lot lately—that the Air Force simply believes it can control costs, end pointless duplication, and improve joint operations by becoming executive agent for unmanned aerial vehicle acquisition. And, Deptula writes that the issue of operational control is separate from that of executive agent and should be handled jointly to distribute intel more widely on the battle area—ground, sea, or air. (Here’s a link to an abstract of the original NYT article; it will cost you to read it now.)
Details Murky as ARRW Falls Short in Second Test
March 24, 2023
The second all-up flight of the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon on March 13 fell short of a fully successful test, but the Air Force isn’t saying what went wrong with the Lockheed Martin-built hypersonic missile. The defense giant's Missiles and Fire Control division recently said the ARRW is "ready…