An Air
Force official has told Dow Jones Newswires that the service’s plan to become the lead agent for higher-flying unmanned aerial vehicles could save DOD some $1.7 billion over the next six years. Rebecca Christie reports that USAF’s technical advisor for intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance integration and planning, Bruce Nelson, attributes the savings primarily to reduced duplication of effort through “centralized purchases.” This is not the first time the Air Force has ventured down this road, and, once again, it has come under fire.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.

