Daily Report posted items Friday on Thursday’s two launches: 1) the Boeing-built reusable X-37B orbital test vehicle aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V in its trimmed down 501 configuration (see X-37B Boosted into Space); and 2) first launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. suborbital Minotaur IV Lite, boosting DARPA’s HTV-2 into the upper atmosphere for its planned 30-minute, 13,000 mph streak over the Pacific (see Minotaur IV Lite Boosts Hypersonic Vehicle).
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be operational in the late 2020s, several years before the Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems, Air Force officials told the House Armed Services tactical aviation panel. The CCAs will first be “shooters,” then electronic warfare platforms, then sensors, in that order, they added.