USAF’s intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance boss, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, said Friday at a Washington seminar that he understands why an Army division commander would want to keep the benefits of some high-flying unmanned aerial vehicles all to himself, but he said that approach helps ensure that such assets will always be in short supply. (Some military officials believe some UAVs should be viewed as extensions of the ground force.) Making a ground force division the owner of its own higher flying UAVs is like having five fire trucks and assigning each to protect one block. “That way, you only cover five blocks,” he said. The Air Force’s executive agent plan, he argued, is more like “letting the mayor decide” where the five fire engines are most needed so that the whole city gets covered.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.