The recent decision not to give executive agency to the Air Force over higher flying unmanned aerial vehicles may actually make it easier for the service to get that status in the future, service chief Gen. Michael Moseley said yesterday afternoon. Moseley told reporters at AFA’s Air & Space Conference that the partnership of the Air Force and Army on Predator-like UAVs probably will yield more aircraft and give the Air Force a big say in the development of a UAV concept of operations. “I’m not unhappy with what’s happened,” Moseley said, adding, “We are … moving in the right direction” in terms of getting a more coherent scheme for joint UAV operations.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.