The Fr
ench Air Force’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operational Squadron, with its MQ-1 Predator-like UAVs, supports coalition and International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan from Bagram Air Field. The unit, which is the only such squadron in the French Air Force, has several dozen airmen deployed to Bagram to fly, maintain, and monitor the intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance platforms the French airmen have dubbed “Harfang.” EADS developed the UAV, which is based on an Israeli Aircraft Industry Eagle drone, for the French Ministry of Defense. (Bagram report by TSgt. John Jung)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to undertake far-reaching reforms on the way the U.S. military buys weapons, promising a sweeping overhaul of the way the Defense Department determines requirements, handles the acquisition process, and tests its kit. The fundamental goal, which Hegseth underscored in a 1-hour and 10-minute speech…
