For more than 500 days, the crews of the 41st Electronic Combat Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., have flown their EC-130H Compass Call aircraft jamming enemy communications in Afghanistan. The 41st and its sister unit, the 43rd ECS, which supports operations in Iraq, cover not two AEFs, but all AEFs—otherwise known as low-density, high-demand units. Read here for our coverage of this type of LD/HD commodity.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.