Company pilot Henry E. Chouteau makes the first flight of the Northrop YF-17 at Edwards AFB, Calif. Although the YF-17 would not be selected as the winner of the Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter Technology evaluation program, it would become the progenitor of the Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet.
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.