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orthrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle has completed 1,000 flights. The fourth production Global Hawk, AF-4, spent more than 18 hours at high altitudes without refueling supporting the war on terror for the record flight, according to a Northrop release. Global Hawk program director, Randy Brown, at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, cited the RQ-4’s “excellent track record,” including the current deployment of two Block 10 variants that are flying 20-hour missions “with only four hours between recovery and the subsequent launch.” Northrop says the Global Hawk UAV has been at least 95 percent mission effective since its initial deployment shortly after 9/11.
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
