Northro
p Grumman has completed fuselage and empennage strength tests on its next generation Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, exceeding Air Force strength and safety requirements. Each of three successive tests of the Block 20 RQ-4 Global Hawk surpassed USAF requirements by about 20 percent, according to a company statement. Northrop also announced Tuesday that it had completed the first flight for the Block 20 last month. The AF-8 vehicle flew from the Northrop facility at Palmdale, Calif., to Edwards AFB, Calif.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.