F-35 support

A 12-percent model of the Short Take-Off and Landing version of the F-35 Lightning II is undergoing aerodynamic loads testing in AEDC’s 16-foot transonic wind tunnel. (Air Force photo by David Housch)

Proteus

A Proteus aircraft flies over southern California Sept. 30 carrying the Global Hawk variant of the new, Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program radar. This is the first flight test of the state-of-the-art radar system, which will be incorporated onto the Global Hawk and, in a larger configuration, onto a wide-body technology demonstrator. The Proteus is a high-altitude aircraft similar in size to Global Hawk. (Courtesy Northrop Grumman Corp.)

YUMA PROVING GROUNDS, Ariz.

YUMA PROVING GROUNDS, Ariz. - Engineers began initial testing of the SkyTote's autonomous operations in hover mode at Yuma Proving Grounds earlier this year. SkyTote is a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II effort orchestrated by AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia, Calif., for the Air Force Research Laboratory's Air Vehicles Directorate designed to demonstrate that a hovering UAV with a fast, forward speed is possible.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Global Hawk N-1, an RQ-4A unmanned aerial vehicle, takes off from the Edwards runway March 27 for a one-way mission to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. N-1 is the first Global Hawk delivered to the U.S. Navy. (Air Force photo by Chad Bellay)

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — An F-16 from the 416th Flight Test Squadron tests a replacement pylon designed to carry towed decoys for the Taiwan air force. The Taiwan High Angle of Attack program was rolled into Edwards’ Operational Readiness Exercise, Feb. 27 through March 3, to prove the squadron’s capability to “test surge” in support of real-world Global War on Terror requirements. (Air Force photo by Tom Reynolds)

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M.

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - A Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile is tested in 2005 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The JASSM is an autonomous, conventional munition with a standoff range of more than 200 nautical miles that is designed to defeat heavily defended, high priority enemy targets deep behind enemy lines. It is part of the Long Range Missile Systems Group here at Eglin and is one of the newest weapons in the Air Force arsenal. The commander of Air Combat Command declared the weapon Initial Operational Capability on the B-52 and B-1 in 2005. (Courtesy photo)