A XQ-58 Valkyrie drone payload translated the incompatible signals of stealthy F-22 and F-35 fighters in a Dec. 9 test, enabling the aircraft to talk together and pass combat information between them. Air Force Chief Architect Preston Dunlap said the test shouldn't be viewed as ...
Technology
One of the Air Force’s oldest planes flew a high-tech first Dec. 15, becoming the first military aircraft to fly with artificial intelligence as its copilot. A U-2 from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., flew with an AI algorithm, named ARTUµ in a reference to ...
Dynetics and its partners are planning next steps for the Gremlins drone swarming program after the aircraft failed to dock with a C-130 in recent flight tests. A third round of demonstrations began Oct. 28 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The three X-61As individually tried ...
The Air Force will flight test the U.S. military’s first hypersonic missile this month, Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper said Dec. 14 at the inaugural Doolittle Leadership Center Forum. Speaking on the theme of “From Acquisition to Lethality,” Roper also described progress on the ...
As Air Force Materiel Command makes changes to speed up how it buys, tests, and sustains weapon systems, the command is also overhauling its personnel practices to ensure its Airmen face fewer career hurdles and can succeed, the command’s boss said. AFMC is overhauling its ...
China’s nascent identity as a nuclear-capable power and Russia’s nuclear modernization plan underscore the continued need for America’s nuclear triad, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said Dec. 10. “There's a myth out there that nukes are less relevant,” AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy ...
An artificial intelligence-powered mission-planning pod is slated to be the first capability deployed under the Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System concept, possible next year using technologies demonstrated in the series of combat experiments known as “on-ramps,” according to the Air Force’s top weapons buyer ...
The Air Force's top weapons buyer is worried the top-secret Next Generation Air Dominance program might become an “unintended casualty” of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers in the final draft of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill are cutting $70 million from the NGAD program for ...
In order to more effectively compete with Russia and China on the great-power stage, the United States must change the way it perceives—and plays—the game, Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said Dec. 10. “We're in a long-term, strategic competition with ...
