Prototype UAV Returns From War: 
Global Hawk UAV No. 3, a pre-production model, has returned to Edwards AFB, Calif., after spending three years overseas supporting the war on terror. It touched down at Edwards on Feb. 20 and was treated to a celebratory water hosing. Aeronautical Systems Command officials say the UAV logged more than 4,800 combat flight hours. The technology demonstrator, which flew 191 combat sorties out of a total of 249, has been replaced overseas by production Global Hawks.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.