A Chinese official has confirmed that his government launched a missile into space, destroying an old satellite, but with no nefarious intent, according to various news reports. However, Taiwan is not convinced. Taiwan officials spoke out against Beijing’s anti-satellite test, citing that some 900 Chinese missiles aimed across the Taiwan Strait, reports Reuters news service. Reuters also notes that a Taiwan newspaper reported that Taiwan’s missile defense could not counter China’s missiles.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.