The Air Force’s UAV Battlelab, working with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Navy Research Lab, is attempting to demonstrate the potential for an expendable unmanned aerial vehicle to provide sensor and target data to AC-130 gunships and the armed MQ-1 Predator UAV, reports Flight International. This expendable UAV would support the larger aircraft by providing video, infrared camera images, and a laser designator.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.