If knowledgeable defense analyst Loren Thompson is right, the Air Force’s effort to produce a single widebody aircraft to replace its trio of older intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets is a dead duck. The Quadrennial Defense Review relegated the E-10 multimission aircraft program to a single test aircraft. Now, the Lexington Institute’s Thompson writes, “Insiders say even that will disappear in the 2008 budget.” Earlier this year, Lt. Gen. Stephen Wood, USAF point man for strategic plans and programs, described the situation as a “strategic pause.” According to Thompson, USAF’s entire ISR program is in dire straits. (Read our February article outlining Air Force plans for ISR.)
Pentagon Task Force, FAA to Test Counter-Drone Laser
March 7, 2026
The Pentagon’s counter-drone task force announced it would conduct a high-energy laser test with the Federal Aviation Administration less than a month after the use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border prompted the FAA to shut down the airspace over El Paso, Texas.