Navy Sounds Like It Now Wants The Air Combat Drone It Notoriously Passed Over A Decade Ago

- The Navy's new CCA requirements read like a love letter to the X-47B — the drone they shelved a decade ago for a tanker, a procurement blunder I'd file under "PoD seal: delivery refused." NAVAIR now demands 10,000 pounds of external weapons, internal carriage for stealth, catapult launches, and full launch-to-recovery autonomy without a crewed babysitter. That's not a loyal wingman; that's an independent UCAV, and the velour uniform approves this conflict. The Air Force's Fury drones carry two AMRAAMs; the Navy wants a strike platform. Course of action — action. Victory is near because I've already started the speech.