Book excerpt: The character of future international conflicts represents a complex and unpredictable set of challenges that necessitates a significant shift in the United States' approach to warfighting. Strategic guidance in Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense reinforces that -...the United States will continue to take an active approach to countering...threats by monitoring the activities of non-state threats worldwide, working with allies and partners to establish control over ungoverned territories, and directly striking the most dangerous groups and individuals when necessary. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Vector-Vision and Enabling Concepts: 2013-2038 balances the effects envisioned in the USAF Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047 with the reality of constrained resources and ambitious national strategy for a complex world. More importantly, as a visionary document, the RPA Vector opens the aperture beyond current austere fiscal realities to explore art of the possible technologies in the 2013-2038 timeframe. The intent is to examine technological advances necessary to enable the Air Force's future RPA force.