An RQ-4 is set to land at Robins AFB, Ga., this week, marking the first time a remotely piloted aircraft has flown to an Air Force maintenance depot. The Global Hawk is headed south for a paint job, “to prevent corrosion and deterioration of the aircraft,” according to a Robins press release. The visit will also serve as a trial run for the possibility of establishing a more permanent RQ-4 depot operation at Robins, Brig. Gen. John Kubinec, commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, told the Macon Telegraph in January. The RPA is scheduled to land at Robins May 10.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…