USAF accepts its final Predator remotely piloted aircraft, tail No. 268. The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems medium-altitude RPA, originally dubbed RQ-1, progressed from first flight in July 1994 as an intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance-only asset to an MQ-1 version armed with Hellfire missiles. The Air Force continues to buy its successor, the larger, more-capable MQ-9 Reaper.
The Pentagon agency charged with building and operating U.S. spy satellites recently declassified some details about a Cold War-era surveillance program called Jumpseat—a revelation it says sheds light on the importance of satellite imaging technology and how it has advanced in the decades since.
