Northrop Grumman formally opened its new Unmanned Systems Center production facility in Moss Point, Miss., on Tuesday, with CEO Ron Sugar presiding over the opening ceremony. Sugar pronounced the new center a dedicated unmanned systems production facility with significant expansion potential—in a “cost-effective location.” The $13 million, 101,000 square-foot facility will be used to produce the Army’s MQ-8B Fire Scout and portions of the Air Force’s RQ-4B Global Hawk high-altitude ISR unmanned aerial vehicle.
Air Mobility Command’s interim boss said the Air Force is behind on modernizing its airlift fleet, to include selecting a Next-Generation Airlifter to replace the service’s fleet of C-5 and C-17 workhorses—a project that faces stiff competition for resources in the service’s modernization portfolio.