The Air Force has sent its first production Global Hawk UAVs to Southwest Asia. Previously, the service employed development models of the high-flying reconnaissance aircraft for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. USAF contracted for only nine production RQ-4A vehicles, which have enhanced sensors over the development aircraft. The Air Force has already awarded a production contract for the new, larger RQ-4Bs, which can carry twice the sensor payload of the A model.
After months of debate and sometimes public tension, the Space Force and Intelligence Community are making progress on establishing ways to work together, officials said this week—to the point where one predicted there will soon be “a sharing of data like we've never seen before.”