Predator Crashes in Afghanistan Air Forces Central reported Friday that an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle had crashed that afternoon in eastern Afghanistan. AFCENT stated the “crash was not due to hostile fire,” despite some news reports to the contrary. There were no injuries or damage to property. The Air Force will investigate the accident.
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.