Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has tapped Betty Sapp to be the next National Reconnaissance Office director, succeeding Bruce Carlson, who has guided the organization since June 2009. The Pentagon notified congressional defense overseers on April 20 that Panetta, with the concurrence of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, had selected Sapp for the leadership role. She’s been NRO’s principal deputy director since April 2009. NRO develops, acquires, and operates the nation’s classified reconnaissance satellites.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.