Secretary of Defense Gates to Air Force: Get More UAV In The War

SecDef Gates, according to Aviation Week, continues to bemoan the lack of UAV in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is doing something about it though, including directing the Air Force to,

rethinking long-standing service assumptions and priorities about which missions require certified pilots and which do not.

Could this signal an end to the Air Force requirement [...]

Blackwater Worldwide Invades California

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Blackwater Worldwide is:
planning to open an indoor training center in Otay Mesa to train Navy personnel after abandoning its controversial proposal to build a larger facility on a ranch in Potrero.
Brian Bonfiglio, a Blackwater vice president, said the facility will operate out of a 61,600-square-foot building in a business [...]

General Petraeus To Command CentCom

Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert Gates has named General David H. Petraeus, USA, as the commanding general of United States Central Command.
Not that this makes up for the attack by Moveon.org, but it is a start.
yojoe out!

Upgrades To Air Force AC-130: With Video From Afghanistan

Over at the always-informative zerohostel, there is a post about the continuing evolution of the Air Force’s close-air-support gunship the AC-130:

the biggest change to the AC-130 airframe was in it’s electronics and avionics. AN AN/APG-180 radar (derived from the same ground and air radar that the Air Forces F-15E uses) was added to allow tracking [...]

SecDef To Air Force: More Predators To Iraq

SecDef Gates has ordered the Air Force to send more of its UAV Predators into the skies in the Middle East.  The Air Force thinks this is not a good idea.

The plan was dubbed “all in” by its developer, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff.
Although the most drastic parts of [...]