The rules of the Missile Technology Control Regime unfairly and unreasonably erect obstacles to the export of remotely piloted aircraft, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz Tuesday. Therefore, they should be revisited, he stated during an address at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. Schwartz said the MTCR was intended to slow the proliferation of missiles, but the regime has hampered the export of RPAs by its strict reading of what counts as a missile. Schwartz suggested an exception for RPAs, possibly based on “ISR only,”—that is, RPAs that can only perform intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles, but not kinetic missions—or possibly based on speed, since RPAs are fairly slow fliers easily seen and characterized.
New B-52 Radar Makes First Flight
Dec. 12, 2025
The Air Force’s radar modernization effort for the B-52 Stratofortress entered flight testing recently, a “milestone” for the once over-budget system that senior leaders call the start of a new era for the Cold War bomber.
