The future of naval aviation is coming together in a factory in Palmdale, Calif. It's a relatively small aircraft with a very big job: to prove that unmanned aerial vehicles can operate seamlessly in the constantly moving world of aircraft carriers. Northrop Grumman is building the second Unmanned Combat Aircraft System-Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft at its location here, which is also home to assembly and refurbishing work on the Global Hawk, Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) systems, the B-2 bomber, BQM-74E aerial targets and Northrop Grumman's part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The first UCAS-D aircraft, air vehicle 1 (AV-1), is now at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif; it was scheduled to have its first flight test by the end of 2010, weather permitting.
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