The Air Force has taken specialized care to the combat zone, greatly increasing chances of survival for wounded troops. “We’ve never pushed specialties this far onto the battlefield before,” says Col. Elisha Powell, commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad AB, Iraq. The USAF theater hospital at Balad has six operating rooms and a staff of surgeons, covering brain, heart, bone, and soft tissue procedures, and other accommodations of a standard hospital, like x-ray capability, all housed in tents and trailers. “If you arrive here alive, you have about a 96 percent chance of leaving here alive,” says Powell.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.