Officials at Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass., say they have replaced almost all 111 fixed-base weather sensing systems—the FMQ-19—at USAF installations around the world under a $60 million contract. These sensors, which reside at the end of runways, provide critical takeoff and landing weather data. The legacy systems being replaced required manual integration of data, but the new technology, says ESC’s Lt. Col. Andrew Terzakis, not only will provide “more accurate and reliable” data but have the potential to automatically integrate with other weather systems.
A semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone shot down an air-to-air target in a Dec. 8 test supported by the U.S. Air Force, a notable milestone in the development of the loyal wingman-type drones that will join the fleets of the USAF, other American services, and allies and adversaries.
