On Another Note About VTOL Aircraft: The Defense Science Board has been working diligently to assess what the military will need in the way of vertical take off and landing (VTOL) and short take off and landing (STOL) aircraft through the first half of the 21st century. A report by this DSB task force is due in June. The tasking memo notes that the lack of investment in rotary wing aircraft “may have produced” aircraft that are “poorly suited” to current and future missions, but it also says their design may be inherently wrong for the “non-linear battlefield.”
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
