In a move to get beyond the current FAA restriction that allows unmanned aerial vehicles to operate in national air space but not in concert with manned aircraft, the Air Force wants to build an “experience base” from which the FAA would agree that UAVs provide an “equivalent level of safety” to a similar class of manned aircraft. The Air Force has issued a request for information to develop a modeling, simulation, and analysis environment to investigate and “derive initial capability requirements” for what the FAA terms the “see and avoid” rule applied to manned aircraft operating in the national airspace. Interested vendors have until Oct. 9 to respond.
Air Force F-16 pilot Lt. Col. Eric R. Emerson, who commanded a small quick reaction force of fighters responding to Iranian-backed militia groups in 2024, became the first Air National Guardsman presented with the Anthony C. Shine Award on Feb. 10.
