The first group of airmen from the 820th Security Forces Group at Moody AFB, Ga., have completed training with the ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle at Boeing’s UAV Training Center in Clovis, N.M. Marshall Formby, Boeing’s director of training, said in a press release, the airmen have “completed an intensive education in systems operation, aerodynamics, crew resource management, maintenance and tactics.” Although the Navy and Marine Corps have employed the ScanEagle, this USAF group of three operators, two maintainers, a mission commander, and sensor operator will be the first military personnel to directly control the system.
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…