The Air Force isn’t buying any more Predator MQ-1 killer-scout unmanned aerial vehicles, but it will up its fleet of MQ-9 hunter-killer UAVs by 24 aircraft, per its Fiscal 2010 budget. The Defense Department overall wants to achieve 50 Predator-class surveillance orbits by 2011. Unexplained is what happens to the vaunted MC-12 “Liberty” intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance airplane; 24 were funded in Fiscal 2009, but USAF requested none in 2010.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.