AFA Winter 2021: US Air Force envisions additional Vanguard S&T programmes in the future 25 February 2021 by Pat Host The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) could have as many as six Vanguard priority science and technology (S&T) programmes in the coming years, said Brigadier General Heather Pringle, AFRL chief, on 24 February, during the Air Force Association’s (AFA’s) annual Aerospace Warfare Symposium. Brig Gen Pringle said that she wants to have a pipeline of Vanguard programmes coming and going. The three current Vanguard efforts are Skyborg, a family of autonomous capabilities on affordable unmanned aircraft platforms for low-cost combat; Golden Horde, a collaborative munitions effort; and Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), an alternative position, navigation, and timing (PNT) capability.