The Air Force recently notified lawmakers it is moving nearly $20 million in fiscal year 2017 procurement funding to modify 14 MQ-9 Block 5 aircraft as a new-start program. The service plans to install multistation beyond line-of-sight datalink capability and the Barrett Asymmetrical Datalink Device Computer and modify Block 5 Reapers to fly longer distances. "These modifications are accelerating in support of an urgent operational need," Maj. Gen. Steven Basham, the Air Force's legislative liaison director, wrote to the Senate...
