When Brian Grazer has an idea for a movie, he now starts with a chatbot. The co-founder of Imagine Entertainment — the company behind “A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13” and “Liar Liar” — said he sits down with Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude, to rough out a story before handing it to a writer.
“You can build the whole thing into an outline. You still need a screenwriter. I always believe you need a screenwriter,” Grazer said during a keynote at UCLA’s Entertainment Symposium on Thursday. What once could have taken up to a year, he said, now takes him about a week — but the human writer stays.
That balance — AI as an accelerant rather than a replacement — captures where much of Hollywood has landed in practice. Amazon MGM, Lionsgate, Netflix and Disney have all made major investments in the technology. The sharper question at the symposium, which drew many of the industry’s top lawyers and dealmakers to the Westwood campus, was not whether to use AI but how: who authorizes it, how far it goes and who gets paid.
For the companies building the tools, the answer increasingly comes from the client. Studios, production companies and distributors regularly approach Promise, a generative AI company, to bring AI into their productions, and each arrives with its own usage guidelines, said the company’s president, Jamie Byrne. Those rules govern which AI models Promise may use and what protections apply — effectively letting each client decide how heavily AI figures into the work.
“It comes down to a risk appetite,” Byrne said during a panel on AI. “We know that there’s talent that are staunchly against it. We know that there are many who are okay with it.”
He framed adoption as a competitive necessity: “Every time there’s a technology change, certain studios or production companies rise. Others fall, and it’s usually the ones that are not leaning into the new tool.”
Ron Howard, also of Imagine Entertainment, argued the limits will ultimately be set elsewhere — by viewers. “Sure, it’s about efficiencies and budgets, but more than anything, audiences are going to tell us where those restrictions are,” he said. He expects AI-generated content to settle into its own subgenre over time, with audiences signaling what they will accept.
The most contested ground is labor, where consent has become the dividing line. The emergence of synthetic performers such as Tilly Norwood has made AI a central issue in SAG-AFTRA’s contract. The union’s most recent agreement draws a clear line between authorized digital replicas, which use a performer’s likeness with their consent, and fully synthetic creations.
Talent agencies are organizing around the same principle. In recent years, Creative Artists Agency began digitally scanning clients into what it calls the CAA Vault, building a replica of a client’s image, likeness and voice while leaving the talent in complete control of how it is used.
That control is beginning to carry real value, said Tammy Brandt, CAA’s deputy general counsel, who said she is seeing more deals that involve digital likeness. Hollywood has been slow to work out how to monetize these replicas, she said, but once it does, audiences will start to encounter them more often.
“You have to lean into the technology and understand what it can do, and honestly, how you can make money, work with talent and with creative assets in a way that the user is interested in,” Brandt said. “There’s a little bit of trial and error as you go with that.”
TINA Daheley’s BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show replacement has been revealed just a day after she announced she’s quitting.
The newsreader has spent nearly eight years on the programme and was dubbed former host Scott Mills’ “work wife”, but now she’s moving on.
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Tina Daheley is leaving the Radio 2 Breakfast ShowCredit: InstagramMatt Carter is taking over the newsreader job from TinaCredit: @thatmattcarter/Instagram
Filling her sizeable shoes is journalist Matt Carter, and he can’t wait to get going.
Writing on Instagram, he said: “Thrilled to finally be able to spill the beans and tell you I’ll be joining a stellar cast of @djsaracox, @theelliebrennan and the fantastic prod team as your newsreader on the NEW breakfast show next month! Big (and very stylish) shoes to fill – wish me luck…
“See you on the 6th!”
The news was well received by listeners and station legends.
While OJ Borg posted: “Mate this is wicked! You were wicked when we did breakfast together.”
Tina, 45, told how the role had been “one of the greatest privileges of my life” and admitted it was “humbling” to “deliver the biggest breakfast show in Europe”.
She then made the reveal she is staying in the Radio 2 fold and on Jeremy Vine‘s 12-2pm show over summer.
In an emotional statement, she wrote: “After more than seven years of early alarm calls on Radio 2, I’m stepping away from Radio 2 breakfast.
“It’s been one of the greatest privileges of my life to wake up with you every morning, and humbling to have been trusted to deliver the news on the biggest breakfast show in Europe.”
Tina went on to reminisce about her time with the BBC and said: “My breakfast run ends on Radio 2 but it all started on 1Xtra where I landed my dream job reading the news on Trevor Nelson’s Breakfast Show.
“From there, I spent a decade broadcasting to one in four young people in the UK on Radio 1.
“After 18 years and six back to back breakfast shows (probably a record) in there somewhere, I am looking forward to a lie in”.
Tina, who began her BBC radio career on Trevor Nelson’s show, reads the early-morning news and contributes to lively discussions.
Earlier this year, she went “missing”amid an “awful week” after being struck down by illness.
Scott Mills Scandal in Brief
SCOTT Mills has been sacked from BBC Radio 2 – yet what’s happening?
She was absent at the same time as her former co-host Scott was pulled off-air.
As well as losing his role on Radio 2, Mills was also sacked from working on the BBC’s Eurovision coverage and from a new podcast spin off from Race Across The World, which he won the celebrity series of in 2024.
The winning UJTS design will replace the Navy’s T-45 jet trainers, one of which is seen here. USN
“Boeing is focused on meeting our commitments, and we bid for programs where we believe we can provide the right solution tailored to our customers’ needs and requirements,” a Boeing spokesperson told TWZ. “After careful evaluation, we have determined the T-7A does not meet the U.S. Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System requirements.”
“We have therefore informed the Navy that we will not bid on the current RFP. We remain committed to delivering the T-7A as a modern, growth-oriented training solution for 4th, 5th and 6th generation pilots as requirements evolve,” they added. “We look forward to providing and sustaining both current and future capabilities for the Navy.”
Boeing says its decision on UJTS is tied to the General Electric F404 turbofan. The company has stressed that the F404 is a proven design with millions of flight hours on multiple platforms, including the T-7A, and is a clear example of a ready-to-field design. Still, Boeing’s view is that the UJTS engine qualification requirements would require additional long-cycle development work, and potentially limit its ability to meet the Navy’s initial operational capability target for the new jet trainers.
All this being said, it is still not entirely clear what the specific issues might be, given that the F404 is such a well-established design that has been and continues to be used on a variety of military aircraft. This includes several other land-based jet trainer designs beyond the T-7, like the Scaled Composites Model 400, which competed against the Red Hawk in the Air Force’s T-X competition, and the Turkish Aerospace Industries Hürjet.
Maintainers work on the F404 engine on a US Air Force T-7A Red Hawk. USAF/Zelideth Rodriguez
Most notably, the F404 also powers the TF-50N that Lockheed Martin and KAI had put forward for UJTS. At the time of writing, neither Lockheed Martin nor KAI looks to have offered a detailed explanation for the decision to withdraw from the Navy jet trainer competition.
A rendering of the TF-50N. Lockheed Martin
The T-7A has also suffered from various technical and other issues over the course of its development, which has led to significant delays in its entry into Air Force service. The service is now hoping to reach initial operational capability with the Red Hawk next year. Any potential for direct synergies in terms of support and sustainment between the Air Force and Navy jet trainer fleets is now off the table.
It is worth pointing out that the TF-50N and the T-7 are also both single-engine designs. The Beechcraft M-346N that Leonardo and Textron have put forward is powered by a pair of Honeywell F124 turbofans. Two Williams FJ44-4M turbofans power SNC’s Freedom Jet, which is also the only clean-sheet design in the running for UJTS. This may point to a general view of the UJTS requirements that make single-engine designs less attractive.
A rendering of the M-346N. Textron/BeechcraftA rendering of a pair of SNC Freedom Jets. SNC
The Freedom Jet design is also tailored to meet now-axed requirements for UJTS to be able to perform carrier qualifications and simulated carrier touch-and-goes at base on land. The requirements for so-called Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) training at facilities ashore have historically been structured specifically in a way that “simulates, as near as practicable, the conditions encountered during carrier landing operations,” according to the Navy.
F-18 Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP). Touch-and-Go Landing.
SNC says its choice to build an aircraft that can still perform these tasks is deliberate, and offers the Navy what could still be important capability and flexibility in the future, as you can read more about here.
The Navy’s decision to remove carrier qualifications and otherwise alter key aspects of the tactical jet aviator training pipeline has been and continues to be controversial. The service has argued that substantial investments in virtualized training and assisted carrier landing capabilities, such as Magic Carpet and its successors, have fundamentally changed the landscape when it comes to training future pilots for carrier-based operations.
Flight Ready: Magic Carpet
Flight Ready: Live, Virtual, Constructive
Earlier this month, the Navy also confirmed that it had raised the total cost ceiling for the prospective UJTS contract from approximately $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion.
“The Government updated the price cap to reflect a change in the program cost estimate due to new information received,” Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) subsequently explained, according to Breaking Defense.
The substantial increase in the projected cost has raised its own questions about the outlook for the competition and the development program that is expected to follow. The Navy’s decisions to scale back its training requirements had previously been seen as opening the door to existing land-based jet trainer designs, or derivatives thereof, like the T-7 and the TF-50N. That, in turn, was viewed as a potential way for the service to help keep costs and risk low.
A rendering of the version of the T-7 Boeing had previously planned to submit to the UJTS competition. Boeing
The Navy’s T-45 replacement plans have already been delayed multiple times, with the service originally planning to pick a winning design this year and to have the first example enter operational service in 2028. The goal now is to award a contract in the middle of next year.
The series centred on her character Amanda, a woman whose seemingly flawless life begins to unravel after she inherits a mysterious fortune.
The four-part series reached its conclusion on Wednesday, June 10, with Amanda uncovering the secrets behind the enigma as the truth finally emerged, reports Wales Online.
The Fortune ending explained
Amanda was concerned with the disappearance of her mother Linda from her care home, while also dealing with her husband Jimmy disappearing.
Initially, she feared the worst, and confronted Sandy about secret meetings with Jimmy, only to find out that he only wanted Sandy to pressure Amanda to keep the money.
As she struggles to know what to do, and is warned not to contact the police, Amanda tries to find clues from the box of photographs she was sent.
She also gets a call from Fiona, who wants to take 50% of the money from Amanda, and cut out Anthony from the deal.
Amanda eventually manages to track down Jimmy’s last known location but while hoping to find him, is threatened by Anthony, who wants more of the money’s share.
Secrets continue to disrupt Anthony and Fiona’s relationship, as at their home, she finds a shirt full of blood, though he offers no explanation.
Amanda, on her way to find Jimmy, locates her mum in an old fishing hut that was pictured in one of the photos, but Linda isn’t alone.
She finds a stranger there, later confirmed to be Barry, with Linda revealing that Barry is actually Amanda’s dad, who she thought was dead for decades.
All along, Barry had wanted Amanda to keep the money for herself, explaining that the money had originally been his, but Martin had taken it for himself.
Martin had also asked Boots to kill Barry, but Barry had set up a trap and escaped, leaving Amanda thinking he was dead.
Barry also reveals he had asked Jimmy to help him, who returns, apologising to Amanda for keeping secrets.
Going to meet Anthony and Fiona at their estate, Amanda gets a call from their lawyer, who informs them that Anthony isn’t really Martin’s son.
Confronting them, Amanda tells the truth about the Worrall’s money, that it actually came from her dad.
Though Fiona had no idea of the truth, Anthony tries to hide behind lies and denies killing Boots, but Barry walks in, a ghost from the past.
In a moment of despair, Anthony threatens to shoot Fiona and Barry, before pointing the gun at himself.
The final scenes, after Linda’s heartbreaking death in the fishing hut, see Amanda return to Sandy’s to ask for her job back, and revealing she accepted the money, but let Fiona keep the house.
The Fortune’s replacement confirmed
The Fortune has been airing on Channel 5 for two weeks, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Next week on Tuesday, June 16, after Reuben Owens: Life in the Dales slots at 8pm, Little Disasters airs at 9pm on Channel 5.
Its synopsis reads: “As the investigation continues, shocking discoveries are made. Cracks form in the Carrisford family as their friends become increasingly involved, and hidden secrets come to light.”
Then on Wednesday, at the same time, a repeat episode of Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death will air, as per Freeview.
India’s fertility rate has for the first time fallen below the level needed to stop the population from shrinking, raising concerns about future labour shortages and an ageing society.
For decades, India has seen rapid population growth. According to government statistics, including the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report — the country’s largest demographic survey — India has had a falling fertility rate for some years, but the reproduction rate remained high enough to keep the population growing.
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The latest SRS report, released last month by India’s Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, said that India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) had dropped to 1.9 children per woman – lower than the benchmark level of 2.1 needed to keep the population stable in the long run. TFR is the average number of children that a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. In the 2000s, India’s TFR was around 3.3 births per woman.
So, what is behind reduced fertility? Why does it matter and what are the consequences?
Here’s what we know:
What has led to the falling fertility rate ?
For decades starting in the 1970s, Indian governments and policymakers have tried to battle what they argued was overpopulation — too many people, and too few resources to manage for what was then a relatively poor nation.
Many top-down government initiatives — including a brief controversial effort to forcibly sterilise people in the 1970s — aimed to control India’s population.
Despite that, by 2019, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was still warning of a “population explosion”.
But by 2022, the first signs that India was about to tip over into uncharted territory: The National Family Health Survey released data suggesting that India’s TFR was falling fast, across communities. Yet a year later, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation — and the trend of a declining fertility rate was swamped by the headlines of a 1.5 billion population.
Now, latest survey suggests that the prospect of a shrinking population might be more imminent than policymakers had planned for.
Experts say better access to education and contraceptives are among key factors behind the falling fertility rate — along with the increased costs of bringing up children.
“Total fertility rate often drops when more women in society have access to education, contraceptives and more agency in decision-making in households,” Dipa Sinha, a development economist who works on social policy in India, told Al Jazeera. “It also drops when the economy becomes expensive so raising children also becomes expensive.”
She said there’s another reason too.
As infant mortality reduces, the desire to have more children also decreases. According to the latest SRS report, India has recorded a significant decline in infant deaths from 30 per 1,000 live births in 2019 to 24 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024.
These factors also correlate almost perfectly with the differential levels of fertility rates across the country.
According to the May demographic survey report, India’s poorest states, such as Bihar in northern India with the lowest levels of education and high infant mortality rates, also recorded the highest fertility rate in the country at 2.9, followed by 2.6 in Uttar Pradesh.
By contrast, India’s capital New Delhi — with among the highest levels of education and lowest infant mortality rates — registered the lowest fertility rate, with an average of 1.2 births per woman. Southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, with among the best health and education systems in India, recorded a rate of 1.3.
“A lot of studies on regional development in India from the early 80s have revealed that states in the South have developed faster with respect to both the economy and women’s status in society. So these reasons have contributed to the lower fertility rate,” Sinha said.
What are the consequences of a falling fertility rate?
In 2005, India’s population entered a stage called ‘demographic dividend’, a phase when the proportion of a country’s working age population (15-64 years) is higher than the number of old people and children who are not in the labour force. According to the UNFPA, India’s demographic dividend is expected to last until 2055.
Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong entered this phase in the 1960s and rapidly became developed economies. China entered this phase in the 1980s and — coupled with economic reforms — rapidly rose as an economy. Today it’s the world’s second-largest economy.
In India too, the demographic dividend has helped propel the economy. But millions remain unemployed and — as with China — India is far from a developed economy.
Now, with a declining fertility rate, India might not be able to reap the benefits of a demographic dividend, experts are cautioning, because of a shrinking workforce and a rapidly ageing population.
“If there are fewer children born, then in about 30 to 40 years, India will have more older people who cannot participate in the labour force as much, posing a challenge to the country’s workforce,” Sinha said.
What is the politics behind India’s population data?
The widely varying fertility rates in different parts of the country mean that northern states — which already have higher populations — will in coming years be home to an ever-increasing share of India’s population.
Southern states have already in recent years been complaining that the Indian federal government — especially under Modi — are being “punished” with fewer funds, Sinha said. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has historically struggled to make major political inroads in southern India, though it has made gains in recent years.
Now, “the distribution of financial resources by the country’s government to state governments” could become an even bigger political flashpoint, she suggested. Later this year, India’s government will introduce a policy in parliament called “delimitation”, which will assign seats to each state according to population figures based on the subcontinent’s new census that began earlier this year and conclude in 2027.
“When delimitation comes into effect, there is a fear that the share of southern seats in the Parliament will reduce,” Sinha added.
Moreover, India’s ruling BJP has long stirred the stereotype that Muslims in India are producing more children than Hindus — fanning fears among Hindus that Muslims might some day overtake them as the majority faith in India. The Hindu far-right has been urging Hindus to have more kids. In February, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, urged Hindu couples to have at least three to four children to prevent the community’s long-term societal decline.
In reality, the Muslim population of India was 13 percent in the last census in 2011. Government data shows that the Muslim fertility rate has been falling faster than in any other religious group, India, including Hindus. The fertility rate among Muslims fell from 4.41 to 2.36 between 1992 and 2021, while it dropped from 3.3 to 1.94 for Hindus.
The latest survey further suggests that India’s fertility rate is falling sharply across faiths.
Is India responding to its declining fertility rate?
While the Indian government has not yet announced a nationwide policy to tackle its falling fertility rate, individual states have been trying to encourage people to have more children.
Last month, the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh said families will receive 30,000 rupees ($314) for the birth of a third child and 40,000 for a fourth child ($418). According to the SRS data, Andhra Pradesh’s total fertility rate is 1.4.
States such as Goa in the west and Karnataka and Telangana in the south have introduced state-funded IVF centres for first-time parents, encouraging people to have more children.
Sinha said the Indian government should respect people’s individual reproductive choices and support them.
“It is important for countries like India to develop a public policy based on its demographic structure and future needs. So if we are going to be an ageing population, then we have to be ready to help a lot of old people,” she said. The country needs “a policy now which guarantees that they have better healthcare, pensions and social security in old age”.
Which other countries in Asia have seen dramatic fertility rate declines?
Other Asian countries such as China, Taiwan and South Korea are also experiencing fast-falling fertility rates.
According to the World Bank, China’s 1.0 fertility rate is well below the 2.1 replacement level.
Taiwan’s interior ministry said earlier this year that its total fertility rate is around 0.86 and likely to fall below that.
The United Nations says South Korea’s rate is approximately 0.75 children per woman – the lowest worldwide.
Nothing could possibly generate a headline Tuesday night when the worst American League team — the Angels — played host to the perhaps the worst National League team — the Colorado Rockies.
Except. . .
This.
A fly ball conked Angels right fielder Jo Adell on the head and bounced over the fence for a home run, reminding fans of José Canseco’s similar gaffe 33 years ago.
The ball caromed back into the outfield and Rumfield momentarily stopped at second base. But the umpires confirmed the home run, coupling Adell with Canseco in numerous social media posts.
Canseco, the steroids-fueled, defensively challenged left fielder of the Texas Rangers, made a similar blunder on May 26, 1993, when a ball hit by Cleveland’s Carlos Martínez bounced off his head and over the wall.
Mike Trout presumably has witnessed every possible blooper, blunder and boo-boo in 16 seasons with the woeful Angels. The center fielder stood only a few feet from Adell when this one occurred and did not make himself available for comment afterward.
To his credit, Adell faced reporters.
“It looks like I’ve never played in the field before, which is disappointing, because it’s beyond the truth,” he said. “I’m the only one that really knows what happened. I was out there, and it happened to me, so it is what it is.
“It was kind of the icing on the cake, because I was [expletive] all the way around the whole day today.”
Adell was hitless in four at-bats, striking out twice, in the 8-2 loss that dropped the Angels to 23-39, the worst record in the AL.
The play was emblematic of Adell’s seven-year career with the Angels, who made him a first-round draft pick in 2017. At first blush, his lifetime Wins Above Replacement of 0.3 would indicate that he’s little better than the fictional minor league “replacement player” to which MLB players are compared in calculating the statistic.
Yet Adell’s physical tools and occasional highlights scream stardom. He shouldn’t be an ordinary Jo. The antithesis of the embarrassing episode Tuesday night came less than two months ago when he robbed the Seattle Mariners of three home runs in one game.
“It was the Jo Show,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said at the time. “This guy works as hard as anybody I’ve ever been around. His work ethic, attention to detail, his desire to improve every single day. To see him do that, I don’t believe you’ll see that again.”
Suzuki, who was Adell’s teammate in 2021 and 2022, likely never thought he would see a fly ball bounce off the outfielder’s head and into the stands, the Jo Show shifting to Oh, No!
“I saw the play, but for me, Jo’s made great strides defensively from when I played with him,” Suzuki said Tuesday. “And obviously, he had the night he robbed three home runs. It was a tough play tonight, but at the same time, the strides that he’s made defensively have been great.”
Adell was considered a defensive liability early in his career and was saddled with a four-base error in 2020 when a fly ball hit his glove and went over the fence. But he steadily improved and became a Gold Glove Award finalist in 2024.
That didn’t stop the “Tarps Off” throng of shirtless fans at Angel Stadium from chanting Adell’s name after the gaffe against the Rockies. For his sake, they likely will revert to imploring Angels owner Arte Moreno to “sell the team” soon enough.
Adell might have to stay away from social media forever, but he would like to forget the ball bouncing off his head as soon as possible.
“That’s what we have to do,” he said. “I mean, there’s really no other way around it. Let it fester and tumble over, but these are plays I’ve made hundreds and thousands of times. I’ve got to just keep going, and as a team, we’ve got to keep going.”
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is in the early stages of the search for a replacement for the C-146 Wolfhound cargo plane. The C-146s are unassuming twin-engine turboprop aircraft with civilian-style paint schemes that provide important logistical, medical evacuation, and other support, particularly to far-flung U.S. special operations forces. However, they are also based on a long-out-of-production design that was never in widespread use anywhere, and that makes them increasingly difficult and costly to sustain.
Col. Justin Bronder, head of SOCOM’s Program Executive Office for Fixed Wing (PEO-FW), spoke to TWZ and other outlets about the C-146 replacement plans at a roundtable on the sidelines of the annual SOF Week conference yesterday. The Wolfhounds are part of what SOCOM refers to as its Non-Standard Aviation (NSAv) fleets.
A C-146 seen flying from an austere airstrip in the Philippines during an exercise in January 2026. Courtesy photo via US Special Operations Command Pacific
There are some 20 Wolfhounds in service today, which are operated by Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The C-146, which AFSOC began flying in the early 2010s, is a militarized version of the Dornier Do-328, something we will come back to later on. The Air Force also has another Do-328, nicknamed Cougar, that has been used to conduct research and development and test and evaluation activities in support of SOCOM.
A briefing slide from the mid-2010s discussing the features of the Do-328 “Cougar” aircraft. SOCOM
“So we have had a highly successful Non-Standard Aviation program, again that really developed under the crucible of where those operations that the Command [SOCOM] was in many parts leading in the really peak days in the War on Terror,” Col. Bronder explained. “So those aircraft, again, battle-proven C-146 Wolfhound aircraft, [were] set up at various TSOCs [theater special operations commands], providing the direct support.”
A nighttime shot of a C-146 coming in to land on a highway in Arkansas during an exercise. USAF
However, “those aircraft were fairly constricted by their short range, [and] by being a unique aircraft. There wasn’t a large global backbone to sustain them,” he continued. “So it was a successful model, but maybe not a very cost-effective one.”
The Air Force’s official C-146 fact sheet says the aircraft can fly up to 1,500 nautical miles while carrying 2,000 pounds of cargo. The Wolfhound does offer the flexibility to operate from shorter runways and semi-prepared airstrips, as well as roads.
A C-146 operating from a roadway during an exercise. USAF/Master Sgt. Scott Thompson
“We’re looking for ways to recapitalize that fleet with something that’s more cost-effective, leverages a commercial kind of sustainment enterprise better, and then it again provides maybe a more capable aircraft to cover down on larger areas faster,” Col. Bronder added. “So those are the types of requirement spaces we’re working through as we plan out what the next phase of NSAv looks like.”
A simulated casualty is seen being attended to inside a C-146 during an exercise. USN/Chief Petty Officer Elizabeth Reisen
The Do-328 was first developed in the 1980s as a commuter airliner. A jet-engined 328JET derivative followed in the 1990s. Both variations only saw relatively limited sales. Just 217 examples were reportedly built, inclusive of both turboprop and jet-powered versions, during the production run in the 1990s. Only a fraction of those aircraft are still flying. Several attempts have been made to revive production of modernized versions of the design, but so far without success. Last year, Deutsche Aircraft unveiled the first prototype of its new D328eco, but, at the time of writing, it has yet to fly.
A picture of Deutsche Aircraft’s D328eco prototype, notably seen here without engines fitted. Deutsche Aircraft
With the exception of a lone example operated by the Botswana Defence Force, the U.S. Air Force is the only military user of the Do-328. All of the Air Force’s examples were acquired second-hand. The C-146s supplanted an even smaller fleet of Bombardier Q-200s, a version of the De Havilland Canada DHC-8, or Dash 8, which AFSOC had begun flying in the NSAv role in the late 2000s.
Since the early 2010s, the C-146s have been criss-crossing the globe, providing discreet support to U.S. operations forces, sometimes right at the tactical edge. As one known example, Wolfhounds were heavily involved in supporting the opening phase of the French intervention in the northwest African country of Mali in 2013. C-146s continue to be used to move special operations forces and cargo, as well as to help evacuate injured personnel and perform other light utility-type missions worldwide. They have even sometimes been employed as VIP transports in more far-flung locales.
Then-US Secretary of State John Kerry seen about to board a C-146 in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City during a visit to the country in 2017. US Department of State
The C-146 fleet has also received various upgrades over the years. This includes unspecified modifications that have enabled the aircraft “to land at more austere, semi-prepared runways,” which “resulted in an approximately ten-fold increase in the number of available runways worldwide,” according to a declassified annual Air Force report published in 2015, which this author previously obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The full entry on the C-146 from the declassified USAF annual report published in 2015. USAF via FOIA
As Bronder made clear yesterday, SOCOM and AFSOC are still very early in the process of laying out the requirements for a successor to the C-146. Any desire for boosts in range, performance, payload, and other capabilities will need to be balanced against the need for any future NSAv aircraft to be able to operate from the same kinds of remote and austere locations as the Wolfhound does today.
SOCOM is certainly looking to move quickly on securing a replacement for the C-146. It is asking for $55 million to buy the first three of these new NSAv aircraft in its Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
“The current C-146A fleet will be divested of on a schedule that maintains this critical TSOC capability, as transition to the new aircraft occurs,” the budget documents also note.
US Air Force personnel prepare to transfer simulated casualties to a waiting C-146 during an exercise in 2022. USAF/Staff Sgt. Christopher Stolze
In the meantime, the Wolfhound fleet will continue providing important, if not often overlooked, support to American special operations forces around the world.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The U.S. Air Force has confirmed it has come up with a new set of requirements as it continues to look for a successor to its hard-working MQ-9 Reaper fleet. In contrast to the Reaper, the replacement aircraft is likely to be more flexible in terms of mission spectrum. At the same time, the service wants to use new manufacturing technologies to ensure that it can be built at scale and at a lower price point than the MQ-9. This would allow it to be bought in larger numbers and risked more freely in contested environments.
All this reflects the continued high utility placed on the MQ-9 fleet, as well as its considerable loss rates sustained against mid-tier and lower-tier adversaries. It also points away from filling the MQ-9’s role with a far more exquisite, costly, but more survivable asset, which seemed to have been the direction the Air Force was heading, at least in part, for many years now. With this in mind, this new direction appears to accept that many losses will occur in future combat scenarios and embraces that reality to leverage quantity over quality for whatever eventually takes over from the MQ-9.
Testifying before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Maj. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the acting head of Air Force Futures, said that a new requirements document for an MQ-9 replacement had been approved. Aviation Weekwas first to report the development.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher J. Niemi, seen in June 2025, when he was the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jennifer Nesbitt Airman 1st Class Jennifer Nesbitt
The approval clears the path for the Air Force to begin a new acquisition process for an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) that will assume the MQ-9’s role. A medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) system, the Reaper is primarily used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions.
Niemi told the Senate Armed Services Committee that improvements in technology since the MQ-9 was developed mean the service now considers it possible for a new drone to be “more flexible,” leaning upon open architectures.
At the same time, modern production methods mean the new drone will be easier and cheaper to produce “in mass numbers,” Niemi said. The result should be a drone that the Air Force can “use in a more attritable way.”
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper, assigned to the 432nd Wing, sits on the flightline while being prepared for takeoff at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, June 2, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Renee Blundon
Interestingly, within the Air Force, there has in recent years been a shift away from the term attritable — meaning inexpensive enough to be willing to lose on high-risk missions while being capable enough to be relevant for those missions — to “affordable mass.” This is something TWZpreviously highlighted was already happening back in 2021.
This change came about as a way of helping define the kinds of advanced drones that the Air Force is planning to acquire in the coming years, reflecting that their capabilities will necessarily come at a cost that will make them less than “attritable.”
Last month, the Air Force published a market survey notice, requesting information from industry on a new attritable ISR drone.
This notice included some key performance parameters for the drone, including a range of up to 932 miles and a 20-hour endurance. The attritable nature of the drone was reflected in a requirement for it to fly 100 missions with a “low-to-medium acquisition” cost.
The basic Reaper can fly for more than 20 hours unarmed, or more than 12 hours with weapons. In the case of the MQ-9B version, with an extended wingspan, flight endurance can be increased to more than 40 hours.
An aerospace ground equipment specialist assigned to the 174th Attack Wing, New York Air National Guard, checks data on an MQ-9 Reaper, armed with Hellfire missiles, during Exercise Sentry South 26-2 in Gulfport, Mississippi, March 3, 2026. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Dylan McCrink
“Operators desire low-cost, fast-to-field, fast-to-deploy airborne ISR mass to increase mission flexibility and mission surging,” the market survey notice added.
The process of figuring out what to replace the Reaper with has been ongoing for many years now. However, the latest effort is noteworthy for its emphasis on a lower-cost, more attritable platform.
Back in 2020, the Air Force published a request for information for a program dubbed MQ-Next, also seeking an MQ-9 successor. This was focused on ISR and strike capabilities, but also stated a desire for reduced operating costs and greater persistence, survivability, and range.
By 2021, the Air Force was concentrating more on a family of systems — the so-called Next-Generation Multi-Role Unmanned Aerial System Family of Systems (Next-Gen Multi-Role UAS FoS) — including a growing emphasis on low-observable (stealth) technologies. The same year, the service said it was seeking a replacement for the MQ-9 that could possibly include defensive counter-air capabilities to protect high-value manned aircraft, such as tankers, as well as potentially fly red air aggressor missions. Fast forward to today, and it’s clear that these higher-performance air-to-air focused missions could be taken over, at least in part, by the current Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. As a result, whatever replaces the MQ-9 is unlikely to have such broad requirements.
The Next-Gen Multi-Role UAS FoS included scope for platforms that could be survivable and reusable, or ones that would be attritable or expendable. This was not a single platform solution, either. It would likely need to include a mix of systems.
A Northrop Grumman concept for a possible stealthy MQ-Next. Northrop Grumman
The 2021 document also stipulated that the MQ-9’s successor should be tailored for Great Power Competition, pointing to a drone ecosystem suitable for the kinds of highly contested environments that would be encountered during a conflict with a peer rival such as China or Russia. At the same time, the solution was also intended to fly missions in more permissive environments, like the MQ-9.
Around this same time, the Air Force also said it wanted to leverage advances in development and manufacturing, meaning that smaller numbers of manned aircraft could be produced quickly to meet dynamically evolving threats. This reflected the Air Force’s “Digital Century Series” that was in vogue at that time, and which led to talk about “throwaway” technology and essentially “disposable” aircraft. Some of this appears to have made it into these new requirements, which stipulate that the aircraft needs to be able to fly just 100 missions.
Meanwhile, the latest statements from the service describe a drone with increased flexibility achieved through open architecture, rather than building bespoke batches of drones for particular requirements. Previous statements from the service outlined an aspiration to have its new drone capable of accommodating rapidly reconfigurable payloads, something that open architecture would expedite.
An MQ-9 Reaper assigned to the 174th Attack Wing flies over Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, New York, following a routine training flight, October 31, 2024. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Dylan McCrink Staff Sgt. Dylan McCrink
Above all else, the MQ-9 successor will still have to operate in contested environments.
In his testimony yesterday, Niemi presented a vision of a new drone, the design of which would stress being attritable, rather than survivable.
The Pentagon has long worked on the basis that a future conflict with a peer rival, and especially with China in the Pacific, would see it facing highly robust anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) scenarios. With that in mind, previous Reaper replacement studies had suggested that low observability would need to be incorporated into the design.
An MQ-9 armed with an AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile. U.S. Navy
The latest thinking seems to reject that, or at least reorient the program toward a lower-cost platform of the kind that the Air Force would be able to field in mass, as well as to absorb the anticipated attrition in a high-end conflict. This does not preclude this airframe from featuring low-observable elements. In fact, it most likely will. But those would be more aggressively balanced against cost.
Concerns over the MQ-9’s vulnerability to air defenses have been ongoing for years now, although usually the nuances of this issue are not portrayed accurately in the media. Regardless, many MQ-9s were lost over Yemen, against a bottom-tier force. The war with Iran earlier this year underlined both the great utility and vulnerabilities of the platform. At least 24 Air Force Reapers were destroyed during the war, but these aircraft were pushed deep into Iran, loitered there for hours on end, and did some of the most important air-to-ground strike and surveillance work during the air campaign. While the Air Force says it plans to “buy back” some of the losses from that conflict, that will come with a hefty price tag, something that the service will want to avoid with its next ISR/strike drone. Furthermore, production of the MQ-9A model has now ended in favor of the MQ-9B.
The assumption that the MQ-9 replacement will be acquired in significant numbers is also noteworthy in terms of the current Air Force Reaper fleet, which includes more than 130 MQ-9As, according to Aviation Week.
MQ-9 Reapers assigned to the 49th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron parked on the flightline for display during the Legacy of Liberty Air Show at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, April 18, 2026. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Jose Veras
What appears to be missing at this stage, or at least obscured, is an acquisition strategy for the new drones. As well as the aerial platforms, the MQ-9 successor will require suitable new ground control systems, sensors, and data exploitation technologies, all of which are compatible with open-architecture standards. These systems will also have to leverage the latest technologies to allow the drones to be more effective and more survivable over the battlefield.
Since MQ-Next, the U.S. drone landscape has changed considerably in terms of manufacturers. A few years ago, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and General Atomics would have been seen as the front-runners for the MQ-9 replacement. Now, there are more contenders, often with a founding focus on rapidly scaling up production at low cost. Still, these firms have much to prove, especially considering the risk in replacing an aircraft as important as the MQ-9. At the same time, in the more advanced drone space, the legacy defense “prime” contractors are also making major progress in leveraging new technologies to reduce production costs and migrating away from exquisite, very expensive drones as their default offerings.
A rendering General Atomics released in 2021 of a concept for MQ-Next. General Atomics
Back in 2021, the Air Force was promoting a “Speed to Ramp” initiative for its MQ-Next, which would see the first iterations of this capability fielded before “the 2026/2027 timeframe.” Other solutions under the same effort would begin to be fielded “in the 2030 timeframe,” the Air Force said.
While the latter timeline might still be somewhat achievable, it will require a considerable effort and investment and, not least, the firming up of the requirements for exactly what the Air Force wants its MQ-9 replacement to look like.
What we do know is that, while the Reaper’s replacement might not be as survivable as once envisioned, it will certainly be tailored to the increasingly harsh realities of a conflict against an advanced peer-state adversary.
April 22 (UPI) —Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell‘s term is nearing its end and President Donald Trump is pushing for his replacement but an investigation into Powell may hold up the appointment of a new chair.
The Justice Department opened an investigation into Powell over the renovation of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C., which Trump claims has exceeded $3 billion. The renovation was not the beginning of Trump’s feud with Powell but it has added to his effort to oust the chairman before the end of his term.
Powell’s term as chairman of the Federal Reserve will end in May but he will remain on the Board of Governors until January 2028.
Typically when a Fed chair’s term ends, they resign. However, Powell said he plans to stay put until a replacement is appointed.
At least one lawmaker, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he would not vote on a new chairman until the investigation into Powell is over.
The Justice Department alleges that Powell made false or misleading statements to Congress about the cost of the renovation project at the Federal Reserve headquarters during his testimony to the House Committee on Financial Services in June.
Powell’s testimony was part of his semiannual report to Congress on monetary policy.
Following the hearing, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., submitted a request to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi for Powell to be investigated for perjury and making false statements. Luna said that Powell denied there would be “luxury features” included in the renovations, including a “VIP dining room, premium marble, water features and a roof terrace garden.”
Luna added that Powell “falsely claimed that the Eccles building ‘never had’ a serious renovation.” She notes that the building underwent renovations in 1999 and 2003.
“These are not minor misstatements,” Luna said. “Chairman Powell knowingly misled both Congress and executive branch officials about the true nature of a taxpayer-funded project. Lying under oath is a serious offense — especially from someone tasked with overseeing our monetary system and public trust.”
No charges have been formally filed against Powell. The challenge the Justice Department faces in convicting Powell of perjury or false statements is in proving that he willfully, knowingly made statements he knew to be false at the time.
Powell, who was Trump’s nominee for chairman in 2017, has said that the investigation into him and the Federal Reserve renovation is “pretext” to punish him for not following Trump’s direction to lower interest rates.
“No one, certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve, is above the law, but this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure,” Powell said in a video message in January. “This is about whether the Feed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”
Last month, federal prosecutor George A. Massucco-LaTaif told Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg that the Justice Department does not know of any evidence that a crime has been committed in the Federal Reserve renovation project.
“We do not know at this time,” Massucco-LaTaif said. “However, there are 1.2 billion reasons for us to look into it.”
The fissure between Powell and Trump began and has continued over the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain elevated interest rates in response to inflation. Trump has repeatedly called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, saying the United States should “have the lowest interest rate in the world.”
All along the Federal Reserve continues to hold an elevated interest rate, currently between 3.5% and 3.75%, in an effort to tame inflation. Its target rate of inflation is 2% on an annual basis.
Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell. Warsh served on the Fed’s board for five years after being appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the great Fed chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump posted on social media in January. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”
Warsh faced his first hearing on the path toward confirmation on Tuesday when he testified before the Senate Banking Committee. Questions by senators centered on the Federal Reserve’s independence, something Trump’s influence has called into question.
Presidents have butted heads with the Federal Reserve throughout its history, as monetary policy can reflect on how the U.S. population views the president’s performance. A president has never tried to fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve is a non-partisan, independent agency made up of a board of governors posted in Washington, D.C., and 12 regional banks located across the United States.
Independence is key to the Federal Reserve’s function, keeping it from choosing policy based on the political goals of those occupying the White House and other branches of government.
Trump has not attempted to fire Powell yet but he did attempt to fire Fed board Gov. Lisa Cook. The attempt was unsuccessful as the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in October and ruled that she can remain at her post on an interim basis, at least for 2026.
The president does have some authority over choosing or designating a new Federal Reserve chair, Peter Shane, a constitutional law scholar in residence at NYU Law School, told UPI. However, a president must demonstrate a good reason for doing so.
There are two mechanisms in place that are meant to protect the independence of the Federal Reserve and its chair from political influence.
First, there is Supreme Court precedent. In 1935, the high court made a ruling in the landmark case Humphrey’s Executor vs. the United States. In this case, the court ruled that President Franklin D. Roosevelt could not fire the commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, another independent agency, without cause.
The ruling affirmed that the authority to remove the head of any independent agency falls to Congress.
Second, there is the Federal Reserve Act. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to decentralize the control over monetary policy in the United States. This established the Federal Reserve and set its independence as a foundational feature of its existence.
The Federal Reserve Act makes the Federal Reserve independent in setting monetary policy without the influence of the president or Congress.
Congress has the ability to change the Federal Reserve Act. It did so in 1977 with the Federal Reserve Reform Act.
This amendment, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, codified the objectives of the agency and established a requirement for the board of governors to report to Congress in hearings twice a year. It also added the requirement of Senate confirmation hearings for the chairman and vice chairman of the board of governors.
Last year, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, calling for the board of governors of the Federal Reserve and all Federal Reserve banks to be abolished.
“Americans have suffered under crippling inflation and the Federal Reserve is to blame,” Massie said in a statement.
Since being introduced in March 2025 the bill has not progressed beyond being referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a press conference at Department of Justice Headquarters on Tuesday. The Trump Administration announced charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, which the government alleges funneled over $3 million toward white supremacist and extremists groups. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
