Air Force officials say the production version of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle has collected more than 96 percent of the “target deck”—some 5,000 images of enemy resources in the Southwest Asia theater. The UAV surveys large geographic areas with pinpoint accuracy, providing near real-time data, said Capt. Ty Gilbert, senior intelligence duty officer at the SWA combined air operations center. Another prized feature is the ability to re-task the aircraft, such as during a recent aircraft crash in Afghanistan when a redirected Global Hawk enabled USAF to provide crash site photos to rescuers by the time they received word of the crash.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
