An accident investigation board has found that pilot error led to the crash Aug. 3, 2006, of a Predator MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle during a training sortie out of Creech AFB, Nev. The civilian contractor piloting the UAV “inadvertently depressed an incorrect switch,” states an Air Combat Command release. There were no injuries or property damage—other than loss of a $1.5 million aircraft.
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.