A development version of USAF’s Global Hawk UAV takes off from Edwards AFB, Calif., flies 22-hour, 8,600-mile mission, nonstop and unrefueled, to a precision landing near Adelaide, Australia.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be operational in the late 2020s, several years before the Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems, Air Force officials told the House Armed Services tactical aviation panel. The CCAs will first be “shooters,” then electronic warfare platforms, then sensors, in that order, they added.