Searchers recovered the body of Capt. Lucas Gruenther, an F-16 pilot from Aviano AB, Italy, in the Adriatic Sea on Thursday, announced the Gruenther family in a statement posted at the base’s website. Gruenther, chief of flight safety for Aviano’s 31st Fighter Wing, went missing on Monday after contact was lost with his F-16 over the water during a nighttime training mission. “We will never fully recover from our loss, but take heart in the knowledge that during his all-too-short time in this world, he made a significant difference in the lives of all whom he met,” reads the family’s statement.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.