General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has unveiled its stealthy Predator C unmanned aerial vehicle, which it dubs Avenger. In a release yesterday, the company said the jet-powered, multi-role UAV, which was built on company funds, flew for the first time April 4 at the company’s flight operations facility in Palmdale, Calif. Subsequent flights occurred April 13-14, with a test program now ongoing. Avenger is the latest offering in the company’s Predator UAV family that includes the Air Force’s MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B). It is designed to be more survivable in higher threat environments than its predecessors and provide a quick-response armed reconnaissance capability. It is slightly larger than Reaper and can carry the same mix of sensors and weapons. It carries Pratt & Whitney’s PW545B engine, giving it the ability to fly at more than 400 knots and operate at up to 60,000 feet. Thomas Cassidy Jr., president of the company’s Aircraft Systems Group, said Avenger is a testament to GA-ASI’s ability to forecast military needs and deliver UAVs that are ready for near-term use. News of Avenger’s first flight surfaced earlier this month.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), chairman of the House Armed Services air and land forces panel, said he does not understand how Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived at the $7 billion to $14 billion figures when estimating the added costs to...

The Air Force is considering implementing a high-velocity maintenance arrangement for the B-1B bomber to improve the aircraft’s availability rates. “We are missing sorties required by ops because of aircraft in maintenance,” said Sam Malone, deputy director of the 427th...

The Air Force conducted the first ground test of the combined ramjet-scramjet engine being developed under the DARPA-led Falcon hypersonic research program April 9 at the Arnold Engineering Development Center on the grounds of Arnold AFB, Tenn. The dual-mode engine,...

Members of the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan AB, South Korea, hosted airmen from the South Korean Air Force’s 15th Composite Wing April 13-15 as part of the “buddy wing” exercise and exchange program that provides the opportunity for the...

The Air Force’s C-17 Aircrew Training Center at Altus AFB, Okla., is preparing the airmen from the NATO-led multinational heavy airlift wing (HAW) that will operate three C-17s starting later this year out of Papa AB, Hungary, in support of...

The first-ever robot-assisted surgery in the Air Force took place April 10 at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kyle Weld, endourology director of the 59th Surgical Specialties Squadron, performed a laparoscopic prostatectomy—the surgical removal of...

One of the C-5As from Air Force Reserve Command’s 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, has just received a new missile warning system and decoy flare dispensers that, along with recently installed armor plating, will give this aircraft the...

April 16-18, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 73 59 132 4,205 CAS/Armed Recon 77 174 251 10,553 Airlift 465 465 14,435 Air refueling 106 106 4,772 Total 954 33,965 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...