Seventeen nations came together to improve intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data processing through a two-week NATO exercise in June. Exercise Unified Vision, which ran from June 14-29, included an Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk and a Belgian B-Hunter remotely piloted aircraft sending data to 10 sites manned by a team of 400 participants. The exercise focused on five complex “vignettes,” including convoy protection, hostage rescue, domestic terror threat, and ballistic missile defense, according to a NATO release. US Air Forces in Europe hosted the exercise’s command post at the Warrior Preparation Center in Germany, with additional locations in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and in the US, according to NATO.
After years of experiments and tests, senior Air Force leaders say they're on the verge of using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to launch cruise missiles via airdrop, touting the development as a way to bolster the combat fleet and a major shift in the service’s mindset.