Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota is marshalling forces for “a new era of opportunity” for the Red River Valley Research Corridor by hosting an “action summit” on March 22 at the University of North Dakota. The Air National Guard unit at Fargo and Grand Forks Air Force Base will be jointly operating Predator UAVs. Dorgan also hopes to get USAF to make the university a Center of Excellence for UAV education. He says he wants the summit to identify steps to take “to accelerate” the Predator deployment and identify potential economic opportunities for the surrounding communities.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.