Some two weeks after arriving there, an RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft took off from Misawa AB, Japan, marking the first operational mission originating from Japan for this aircraft type, according to a base release. The June 6 mission was also the first operational mission from a joint-use civilian and military airfield there, states the June 12 release. Coordination of civilian and military air traffic is typically not done in Japan, so this flight was “important because it proves that remotely piloted aircraft and manned aircraft can operate on the same airfield together despite their variety of missions or purpose,” states the release. Heavy fog conditions did not keep the Global Hawk from flying on June 6. “The Global Hawk successfully operated in these adverse conditions,”, said MSgt. Michael Adcock, weather flight chief with Misawa’s 35th Operations Support Squadron. The Air Force plans to operate Global Hawk aircraft from Misawa through the summer, according to the release.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…