The Air Force intends to identify new basing for tactical air control party and air liaison officer training since the current schoolhouse at Hurlburt Field, Fla., lacks the facilities to accommodate the increased demand for the specialties. Under the basing criteria, announced Wednesday, service officials will look at factors such as mission and training requirements, facilities and infrastructure, support capacity, environmental impacts, and cost, in identifying the candidate locations from the pool of Air Force and Army installations in the continental United States. “These criteria will help to ensure that all aspects for basing of this important training are considered,” said Kathleen Ferguson, USAF’s deputy assistant secretary for installations. Air Force officials anticipate releasing the list of candidate bases this summer. After that, a formal environmental impact analysis will begin and surrounding communities have the chance to provide input. (Randolph release)
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.