From “Truck” To “It” Machines: Speaking to reporters at the Dubai Air Show, retired Gen. Ronald Fogleman, former US Air Force Chief of Staff, praised the evolution in thinking about unmanned aerial vehicles, which he said had once been treated like “trucks.” Now, he said, UAV capability to provide real-time combat intel is “beyond our expectations.” According to a news report by the Shephard Group, Fogleman emphasized that UAV technology has not been fully exploited and that ever more UAVs will employ “smart, small munitions and even energy weapons.” (Read our article “Will We Have an Unmanned Armada? Here.)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.