The airmen working with the high-flying Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle at Beale AFB, Calif., last week carried out their first operational mission from Beale. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing airmen deployed the UAV to Andersen AFB, Guam, for the first time, reports 2nd Lt. Ashley Peltier. Previously, the Beale airmen had worked with test personnel at Edwards AFB, Calif., flying the RQ-4 from Edwards. “We have stabilized our training operations at Beale and are now stepping out to show that we can safely self-deploy the Global Hawk around the world,” says Lt. Col. J. Scott Winstead, commander of the 9th RW’s 12th Reconnaissance Squadron. He noted that the “primary challenge” from the ops side was “software and weather,” because the pilots had to train with new software and a typhoon delayed the deployment by a week.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.