The Air Force plans to implement what it calls the Installation Control Center at every base to replace the old amalgam of crisis response entities—command post, battle staff, survival recovery center, and wing operations center—that varied from base to base. The new ICC, says USAF officials, will “be familiar” to airmen at home or abroad. The full concept is still being developed, but officials do expect the ICC to be somewhat tailorable to fit the variety of installations throughout the service, but it does provide a “standardized alignment of functions.” Some units already have adopted the ICC, but officials note that the concept is still being refined, with a final test set for Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008. After that, it goes to the field.
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.