Northrop 
Grumman announced that, for the first time, an RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 40 remotely piloted aircraft completed a full system flight with the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program, or MP-RTIP, sensor. MP-RTIP is a sophisticated radar jointly produced by Northrop and Raytheon. Now designated the AN/ZPY-2, it’s designed to simultaneously track moving ground targets and provide synthetic aperture radar imagery in all weather conditions, day or night. George Guerra, Northrop’s vice president for high-altitude, long-endurance systems, called the MP-RTIP-equipped Global Hawk “the natural evolution of the [RQ-4] program’s advanced technology in providing invaluable intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance capabilities for both military and domestic applications.” The flight took place July 21 at Edwards AFB, Calif., according to the company. The Air Force plans to procure 11 Block 40 aircraft and station them at Grand Forks AFB, N.D. (See also MP-RTIP Sensor Arrives at Edwards.)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.