Creech Air Force Base in Nevada is now home to USAF’s first unmanned aerial vehicle wing—the reactivated 432nd Wing. The new wing’s first commander, Col. Christopher Chambliss, called the event a “monumental day for the Air Force,” adding that it’s “equally critical to the Air Force’s most important customers, the American warfighters.” He noted that the standup was the result of about four years planning. The wing comprises six operational squadrons and one maintenance squadron and, so far, has six MQ-9 Reapers and 60 MQ-1 Predators.
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.