A KC-135 out of RAF Mildenhall, England, helped coordinate the rescue of 14 people stranded off the British coast for two days. One American and 13 Britons were stranded after their racing yacht was damaged during a storm on Feb. 9, according to the BBC. The KC-135 was called, along with a Navy P-8 Poseidon, to help serve as an airborne communications relay, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said. The aircraft coordinated with the HMS Dragon, which was diverted about 500 miles to rescue the crew on Saturday, the BBC reported. Previous rescue attempts by a chemical tanker ship and other aircraft had to be called off because of bad weather. The yacht was in a “desperate state” when the British ship arrived to make an “enormously challenging” rescue, according to the BBC.
The Air Force has selected Collins Aerospace and Shield AI to develop the software Collaborative Combat Aircraft will use to fly missions alongside manned fighters, the service revealed Feb. 12—and drone-maker General Atomics was quick to announce it has already flown its YFQ-42A aircraft with Collins’ system.
