Looking toward the sky, the Air Force achieved a key development milestone this week in the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, with one of its prototype platforms — the YFQ-42A CCA — taking flight at a test location in California.
“This milestone showcases what’s possible when innovative acquisition meets motivated industry,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said via a press release.
He added that CCA went from concept to flight “in record time.”
“This milestone marks the next step in developing semiautonomous aircraft, expanding options for commanders and advancing toward next-generation air dominance,” Parnell said of the successful test flight.
While delivering the Weekly Sitrep, Parnell also addressed what he called a “very hot topic”: whether the department should be returned to its original “Department of War” namesake.
President Trump floated the idea during a White House cabinet meeting this week.
“[DOD] used to be called the ‘Department of War,’ and it had a stronger sound,” Trump said, adding that, “it’s good to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too.”
Created in large part due to the influence of President George Washington, the first U.S. Congress created the War Department in September 1789. The department’s name remained the same for over 150 years until it was briefly changed to the National Military Establishment with the passage of the 1947 National Security Act.
Less than two years later — and due in no small part to the initials “NME” sounding like “enemy” — the establishment was renamed the Department of Defense.
“George Washington started the Department of War because he wanted us to win our wars, not be engaged in endless foreign entanglements,” Parnell said while speaking about the potential for a departmental name change.
“So, will we be called the ‘Department of War’? All I have to say is, the best is yet to come,” he said, adding, “Stay tuned.”
