Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) led an effort last week to ensure Congress includes money to continue the re-engine program for USAF’s E-8C Joint STARS fleet, introducing a sense of the Senate amendment (SA 2621) during floor debate on the 2010 defense spending bill. The program reportedly has been eyed as the service considers how to meet competing budget needs. Chambliss called Joint STARS “one of the most effective [intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance] assets operating today” and included for the record a Sept. 30 acquisition decision memorandum, in which Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter directs USAF to proceed with the program. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said he and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, both support the measure. (From Congressional Record)
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
