Technology Horizons Paper Released: The Air Force on Wednesday issued Technology Horizons, the vision document that charts the service’s science and technology goals and priorities out to 2030. It highlights technologically achievable breakthroughs in that timeframe to increase the effectiveness of the Air Force, and, in the process, the joint US military fighting force. Among the many future concepts that would be possible with these breakthroughs is a reusable prompt theater-range intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance/strike system for engaging high-value, time-critical targets from standoff distances. The 79-foot-long air vehicle features combined-cycle propulsion (rockets and ram/scramjet) capable of Mach 6 flight. The vehicle has a range of 5,000 nautical miles at Mach 6 while carrying a 2,000-pound payload, “permitting alternating flights between Diego Garcia and Guam with runway landings,” states the work. Werner Dahm, Air Force chief scientist, unveiled Technology Horizons to reporters last week. (Technology Horizons full document; caution, very large file.)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.