Lt. Gen.
Frank Klotz, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, told attendees Monday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference he had only 49 personnel and staff on board when AFGSC initially stood up in August 2009 at Barksdale AFB, La. Today, however, the command headquarters has grown to more than 750 and he anticipates having 800 by the end of September. Klotz also announced that by Oct. 1 he anticipates being able to confirm the command has achieved full operational capability. “We have come a long way in a relatively short time,” Klotz said, adding that AFGSC is the descendant of Strategic Air Command but is operating in a completely different environment. “We are proud of that heritage, but we are not SAC,” Klotz said. “Everyone in this command is a pioneer.”
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.