Canada’s Air Force has just received the first of four C-17 strategic airlifters. CTV.ca reports that air officials had to fight some Canadian politicians, who maintained that the air force could continue to rent airlifters whenever needed. The Canadian Air Force Chief, Lt. Gen. Angus Watt, noted that the pool of rental aircraft is small and during a crisis “everyone’s trying to rent them at the same time.” The new Canadian airlifter could be deployed to Afghanistan soon.
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…