The Air 
Force is “not happy with the learning curve” on the RQ-4 Global Hawk program, David Van Buren, USAF’s acquisition executive, told reporters Friday during a meeting in the Pentagon. On both the government and contractor side, the program “needs to do better,” he said. Northrop Grumman supplies the Global Hawk. While in most programs, the cost of each successive lot goes down, but Global Hawk is “going in the wrong direction,” said Van Buren. Among his gripes, the process of negotiating new contracts for these remotely piloted reconnaissance aircraft takes “an inordinate amount of time” and is “excruciating,” he noted. He did note that the Global Hawk Block 20 battlefield air communications node version is “doing quite well.” Northrop said in response to the criticism that the overall cost of the RQ-4 air vehicle and its sensors is trending down, reported DOD Buzz.
The U.S. continued to move a significant amount of airpower toward the Middle East in recent days as talks to forge a nuclear deal with Iran hung in the balance. Flight tracking data indicate there was unusually heavy movement of dozens of fighter jets and other assets that might be…
