Air Force looking at new attack drones?

The Drive:
In June 2016, The War Zone’s own Tyler Rogoway wrote an extensive and thought-provoking analysis of why the U.S. Air Force either had yet to show off a fleet of advanced, combat-capable unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV), or didn’t have any at all. It’s a long but worthwhile read, especially since the service has just announced a massive and shadowy drone-related contract for work out in the Nevada desert.

On April 6, 2017, as part of the Pentagon’s daily announcement of any contract awards worth over $7 million, the Air Force revealed a deal with URS Federal Services, Inc. for nearly two decades of work regarding unmanned aircraft....

... This contract with URS Federal Services is worth $3.6 billion, but the program, whatever it is, isn’t expected to end until the spring of 2034. That’s 17 years for those keeping score. The math works out to more than $210 million per year, on average, over that period or $17.5 million every month.
...
In short, the URS Federal Services' contract could potentially cover the full costs of running multiple squadrons of pilotless planes for nearly two decades. And remember that this deal likely only pays for just a portion of the total cost of this project. So, while we don't know what unmanned aircraft—singular or plural—the Maryland-based company will be helping test, the money involved here suggests there are quite a few of them. Of course, none of this is surprising. The Air Force and defense contractors both repeated hint at the existence of multiple top secret "black" military air and space projects.

"We're modernizing the Air Force, so you'll see in the future new aircraft here on the ramps," then Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said during a visit to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in September 2016. "Then there are other things you also won't see, because we like to have some surprises, also, for potential adversaries."
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There is more.

I would guess the planes are going to be flown by pilots sitting in a desk chair in an office complex.  They will probably be overseeing craft with some artificial intelligence.  This could be a new generation of attack aircraft the air force has needed.

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