The Air Force has doubled the number of pilots training to fly remotely piloted aircraft and is on track to graduate 290 students by the end of 2016 with a goal of graduating 384 RPA pilots by the end of 2017, said Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson, commander of Air Education and Training Command, at AWS16. The current class of RPA pilots is 24 students, up from the previous size of just 12, he said. “We are executing as we speak,” Roberson said. The service is taking students straight from the Air Force Academy, Reserve Officer Training Corps, and Officer Training School, to fill the need for RPA pilots. There are more RPA pilot positions in the Air Force than any other type of pilot position, but the service continues to face a growing need for more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance provided by these RPAs, Roberson said.
Air Force Conducts Test Launch of Minuteman III ICBM
May 21, 2025
The Air Force tested an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif,. at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time May. 21. The successful test saw the missile equipped with a single reentry vehicle travel more than 4,200 miles to strike a test site near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall…