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Report: Air Force Needs Expanded Use Of Unmanned Aircraft To Meet Capability Gaps

Report: Air Force Needs Expanded Use Of Unmanned Aircraft To Meet Capability Gaps
Officials discuss the new Mitchel Institute study on manned-unmanned aircraft for the Air Force. Photo: Matthew Beinart.

A new report from the Mitchell Institute calls on the Air Force to expand its use of autonomous aircraft to match growing capabilities from adversaries and meet capability gaps created by slow-moving programs such as the F-35.  Senior officials from the Air Force and DARPA discussed the latest report Tuesday and said they are considering more options, including the new Distributed Battle Management program, needed to team manned and unmanned aircraft together to meet pressing combat airpower needs.“Autonomy, processing power…

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