Unmanned Career Progress: The Air Force leadership approved the creation of an 18X Air Force Specialty Code for officers who operate remotely piloted aircraft during the service’s intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance summit Sept. 29 in the Pentagon. This new, yet-to-be-named career field will be considered “rated,” carry a six-year active duty service commitment, and will qualify for aircrew incentive pay. Future 18X pilots will earn the wings that the Air Force began handing out last month to its first class of graduates who learned to operate MQ-1 Predator RPVs without prior manned flying experience. The leadership wants more time to come up with a name for this career field that better articulates what the new mission area entails. Continue
The Air Force is moving forward with a new, algorithm-driven system to help U.S. Northern Command better detect airborne threats. NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are tasked with protecting the homeland from attack, depend on a slew of radars and other data systems to monitor U.S.…