Free Republic

NATO will buy U.S.-made reconnaissance drones and equipment for more than €1 billion ($1.3 billion) after the war in Libya highlighted shortcomings in its surveillance and targeting capabilities. An alliance official said Wednesday the total included five of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Global Hawks, ground control stations, analysis equipment, and training for operators. He spoke on condition of anonymity following NATO rules. The official said the order, which coincides with sharp defense cuts across the alliance, is expected to be signed in spring. Deliveries will take place between 2015 and 2017. He said 13 NATO nations will band together to buy...

Northrop Grumman dropped out of the US Air Force tanker race nearly four months ago, but a new contract award revealed 1 July shows they remain in the aerial refueling market. In fact, Northrop plans to go one better than manned aerial refueling - the aerospace giant is now working with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on autonomous high-altitude refueling. Under a $33 million deal dubbed KQ-X, Northrop will demonstrate refueling with a pair of Block 10 RQ-4 Global Hawks the company is currently sharing with NASA The ability to refuel mid-air without the aid of a...

One of the largest unmanned aerial systems operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, surpassed 30,000 combat flying hours and 1,500 combat sorties Feb. 10 here. The Global Hawks are assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing from Beale Air Force Base, Calif. They provide a broad spectrum of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations. The 380th AEW Global Hawks reached their 1,500th combat sortie on Feb. 10. The historic sortie and flying hour mark nearly coincided, said Capt. Michelle Campbell, the...

The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq... the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January and October... The dramatic increase in the development and use of drones across the armed services reflects what will be an even more aggressive effort over the next 25 years... For some Air Force pilots, that means climbing out of the cockpit and heading to places such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where they can remotely fly the...