Just last week, a senior Air Force official said the service had a total of 37 continual combat air patrols of remotely piloted vehicles supporting the fight in Southwest Asia. On Monday, service officials updated that total: it now stands at 39. This includes 31 MQ-1 Predator patrols, seven MQ-9 Reaper overhead orbits—up two from the five reported last week—and one RQ-4 Global Hawk CAP, they told the Daily Report. Also, the number of MC-12 Liberty aircraft that the Air Force is fielding to augment its information-gathering RPVs should grow to 37 by next July, up two from the 35 reported last week, they said. Currently the service is operating six MC-12s in the war theater.
Wilsbach on Key Takeaway from Pacific ABMS Onramp
Oct. 27, 2020
Real-time, highly-detailed airfield status around the Pacific theater was one of the standout features of the September Valiant Shield/Advanced Battle Management experiment run in September, Pacific Air Forces chief Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach reported at an AFA Mitchell Institute streaming event Oct. 27. It's the single feature he would most…