A NEW ENTRANT INTO BROAD AREA SURVEILLANCE:

Northrop Grumman has announced the start of in-house system tests of the first development multifunction active sensor in preparation for flight tests in June. The sensor, an X-band active electronically scanned array radar, is the central intelligence-collecting component of the broad area maritime surveillance (BAMS) aircraft, based on the Global Hawk.

Unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) are coming on strong; the Navy is planning a 65-aircraft buy.