The Air Force has struck out for the second time in its quest to become executive agent for higher flying unmanned aerial vehicles. Megan Scully of CongressDaily reports that Defense Undersecretary Gordon England decided against USAF’s proposal. His decision seemingly overrules the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, which was inclined—this time—to support the Air Force position. England has ordered formation of a joint task force on UAV issues. As expected, there was jubilation among some lawmakers, who sided with the Army in its criticism of the USAF plan.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
