The two X-45A unmanned combat air vehicles are going on permanent display—one to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and one to the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The Boeing UCAVs have flown 64 mishap-free flights. The X-45A has been lauded for its aviation firsts that “laid the groundwork for future unmanned combat aircraft,” according to a Boeing release.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.