Air Force testers at Edwards AFB, Calif., have been checking out air vehicle N-1, the Navy’s first RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, until the Navy could get its own launch and recovery system set up at NAS Patuxent River, Md. The N-1 took off from Edwards last week on its way to its new home, where it will take part in the Navy’s Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration for Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2006. The Navy commanded the 10-hour flight of N-1 to Maryland from Pax River.
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…