Air Force officials at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, on July 22 announced the crash of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle in the southern part of that country on July 21. There was no other information available. The service lost two Predator UAVs in Iraq, one in June and one in May. We are still awaiting word on the cause of the June crash, but the service attributed the one in May to mechanical failure.
The two prototypes for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program have started ground testing, Air Force Chief Staff Gen. David W. Allvin announced May 1, ahead of a planned first flight this summer.