The fear that aircraft are going to end up in mid-air collisions is making him lose sleep at night, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley told Washington-based defense reporters Wednesday morning. The Air Force Special Operations Command boss was referring in particular to the uncoordinated flight of some unmanned aerial vehicles participating in Southwest Asia operations. Wooley said he’s in favor of the Air Force plan to place higher flying UAVs under the control of the operational air boss, who would know at all times the location of aircraft in the sky. He doesn’t want to limit the number of UAVs in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; instead he wants more of this “unblinking eye” capability.
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.