A little more than one year from its inception, the nascent training program designed to field remotely piloted aircraft operators from the ranks of junior non-pilot officers is progressing well, says Gen. Stephen Lorenz, the Air Force’s top trainer. “At this juncture and time, I am pleased with where we are at,” he told reporters Feb. 19 at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando. He added, “I have not had any glaring negative feedback.” Lorenz said the first two beta classes have graduated, and members of the first are already flying MQ-1 Predators in combat. (See Betas Join the Fight.) One change already being instituted for future classes is the addition of more flight training as part of the initial flight screening that the students receive in Pueblo, Colo. This adjustment resulted from the feedback of instructors, who “wanted more air sense” for the students, he explained.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…