They just can’t build ’em fast enough. Predator unmanned aerial systems have turned into true workhorses—amassing some 4,000 hours a month in the Global War on Terror. In July, the total was 4,700 hours. Officials at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, say they just accepted the 125th Predator. In 2006, ASC will move into the third production contract for the popular MQ-1 UAS with its persistent, armed capability. Next up is the larger next-generation version—the MQ-9—which ASC says will fly twice as high, twice as fast, and carry four times as many weapons. These will include the GBU-12, EGBU-12, and 500-pound GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition. Don’t expect to see it in the field, though, before 2008.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.