President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Darrell Jones for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general for his new assignment overseeing manpower and personnel issues on the Air Staff, the Defense Department announced Thursday. Jones will replace Lt. Gen Richard Newton, who’s been tapped to be the next assistant vice chief of staff. Jones has led the Air Force District of Washington at Andrews AFB, Md., since November 2009. Prior to that, for nearly two years, he was director of force management policy within the deputy chief of staff office for manpower and personnel that he is now selected to head. The Senate must approve Jones’ promotion to lieutenant general.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.