Valiant Shield is done and the airmen at Kenney Headquarters in Hawaii believe the air operations portion went well. They orchestrated some 2,000 sorties from Kenney’ Pacific Air Operations Center for one of the largest joint exercises in the Western Pacific. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Kenney HQ commander, said the exercise was an opportunity to work out some of the “frictions” that arise in a joint combat environment, allowing planners to work out those challenges in advance.
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…