Boeing says it has successfully shown that a single unmanned aerial vehicle operator can control several UAVs at once using its Distributed Information-Centralized Decision autonomous mission control software. In its demonstration, a single operator controlled three Scan-Eagle UAVs, receiving a “field-generated” target location from an Airborne Warning and Control System operator console that, in turn, requested video coverage of the target. The UAVs beamed the video back to the AWACS operator, who “tasked” a strike aircraft. Ed Froese, Boeing’s VP for ISR systems, said that the DI-CD would free UAV operators from “micro-managing the routes and other activities.”
The Department of the Air Force is giving Airman and Guardians until the end of the year to meet new requirements for ensuring they achieve a proper protective mask seal, part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s crackdown on unauthorized facial hair.