The 45th Space Wing recently began construction on a new Range Communications Facility at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The suite of technologies in the new center will give the 45th SW greater reliability at a lower cost, and the new construction incorporates flood-resistance measures. “The new facility will alleviate concerns we have every hurricane season resolving structural, mechanical, and fire protection problems that the building has experienced over the years,” said Robert Elliott, 45th Civil Engineer Squadron project manager, according to a press release. The new 32,000-square foot facility will cost $18.6 million to build and is expected to be finished in 2018.
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.