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 Space Force’s work to establish a pool of at-the-ready commercial satellite capacity during a crisis is moving out of the pilot phase as the service prepares to award its next batch of contracts in 2026.
