Applications to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., have dropped again for the fourth year after a post-9/11 peak. This year’s decline was two percent, with a total of 1,260 cadets accepted from an application pool of 9,200 for the class of cadets that will begin training this July, reports the Associated Press news service. In 2005, 9,500 applications were filed at the academy, down from 12,430 in 2004.
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…