USAF PB2020 — MAGIC/Orion continued after 2014
PE 0305205F · Congressional adds FY2015–FY2018
MAGIC/Orion did not fade from the budget after 2014. Adds: $20m FY2015, $5m FY2016, $50m FY2017, $40m FY2018, on top of $19m FY2012 and $50m FY2013. Post-2016 money was for airworthiness, cybersecurity, interoperability and mission capability toward a deployable Block 1 Orion.
Claims that MAGIC ‘disappeared’ after 2014 are incomplete. USAF PB2020 PE 0305205F records the later Congressional adds. FY2017 work included structural certification test articles, Preliminary Design Review and Critical Design Review for a deployable Block 1 Orion. This is a demonstrator-to-deployable path, not a termination. It still does not place Orion in the MH370 window.
Sources
- USAF PB2020 PE 0305205F Endurance UAV
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