Air Force Special Operations Command is looking forward to acquiring exotic weapons, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley told defense reporters in Washington yesterday. He estimates that the next-generation gunship will not be equipped with big guns. “It would have directed energy lasers [and] lethal and non-lethal capabilities,” he said, adding that he’s pushing for it to be able to fly regardless of the weather and be capable of round-the-clock flight. “I want to go for a technological leap,” he explained, adding that the next-generation gunship may be more like a long-range strike aircraft or a bomber.
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…