They have been in the Southwest Asia theater only since January, but the first two production Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles already have flown 50 missions totaling more than 1,000 combat hours, Northrop Grumman said June 5. The two UAVs feature improved sensor capabilities over development versions, which amassed more than 5,000 combat hours over Afghanistan and Iraq.
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.