The Senate has approved Sue Payton as the new Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. President Bush made the nomination in April, but Payton, who is currently Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts, did not appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee until July 18. The full Senate confirmed Payton on July 21.
Shield AI has finished building its first full-scale prototype X-BAT, a vertical takeoff-and-landing autonomous drone, and is now moving it into a new development and testing phase.