A tentative timeline unfurled last week by Air Force officials calls for deactivation of the first squadron of KC-135 tanker aircraft at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., in April 2008, reports the Grand Forks Herald. Officials completed a survey of the base for its new UAV mission and presented a preliminary transition plan (see above). They said that the Air Force would release a final plan some time this fall.
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…