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.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.