The first RQ-4 Global Hawk outfitted with the battlefield airborne command node (BACN) to serve as an aerial communications relay platform makes its maiden flight, flying from Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility to Edwards AFB, Calif.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…