There has been no official word on the fate of the pilot of the USAF F-16CG that crashed in Iraq early Monday morning as it was assisting coalition ground forces. According to an Associated Press news service follow-up report, an Iraqi eyewitness says the fighter could be seen flying erratically up and down just before it crashed some 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. The witness also said other coalition warplanes circled the area after the crash.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.

