The Top Ten finishers in the qualification round of the Hack-A-Sat 2 competition. (Courtesy graphic)

The Automatic Integrated Collision Avoidance System (AUTO ICAS) takes this AFRL-developed safety initiative to the ultimate stage, blending the benefits of ground collision avoidance with the air-to-air element, thus addressing the two highest reasons for fighter jet crashes: controlled flight into terrain and air-to-air collisions. Currently, just one technical gap is preventing transition. Additional development, lab demonstration and flight test efforts are required to get Auto ICAS across the goal line. For two fighter jets alone, the F-16 and the F-35, the Office of the Secretary of Defense projects that Auto ICAS would save 18 aircraft, eight pilots and $2.2 billion by 2040 (U.S. Air Force graphic by Patrick Londergan)

A General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger unmanned vehicle returns to El Mirage Airfield, Calif. June 24, 2021. The MQ-20 successfully participated in Edwards Air Force Base’s Orange Flag 21-2 to test the Skyborg Autonomy Core System. (Photo courtesy of General Atomics)

National Commission on Military Aviation Safety commissioner Gen. Raymond E. Johns, (USAF, Ret.) looks over testing equipment at the 711th Human Performance Wing’s On-board Oxygen Generation Systems (OBOGS) Laboratory Sept. 11, 2019 during the commission’s visit to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. (National Commission on Military Aviation Safety photo/Bryan Whitman)

A General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger unmanned vehicle prepares for taxi at El Mirage Airfield, Calif. June 24, 2021. The MQ-20 Avenger was flown during the Edwards Air Force Base’s Orange Flag 21-2. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Tabatha Arellano)

The Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation office took steps forward in April in making the Air Force’s new Precision, Navigation and Timing concept of operations a reality as it demonstrated fused PNT technologies within an Agilepod during six successful Phase I sorties on an airborne testbed in Centennial, Colorado, and successfully fit-tested the configuration on a T-38 at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, ahead of planned Phase II flight tests in August. (Courtesy photo)