Mayport Lands East Coast Drone Hub
Naval Station Mayport in Florida was selected to house the Navy’s new squadron of unmanned aerial surveillance Triton drones. Mayport in Jacksonville was chosen as the drone hub from three finalists. The other two were NAS Key West and NASA Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia.
Runway Project Moves Pax Testing to Wallops for Summer
A detachment from Naval Air Station Patuxent River will operate from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility this summer. The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force will conduct flight test operations at Wallops with two F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing variants and two F-35C carrier variants from mid-June to mid-July while NAS Pax is implementing a runway intersection construction project.
Move to Put Drones at Wallops Gains New Support
The Accomack County, VA, joins lobbying efforts to locate the Navy still-under-development MQ-4C Triton drone program at the Wallops Flight Facility. Two other sites under consideration are in Jacksonville, FL, and Key West, FL.
Wallops Hopes to Land East Coast Drone Hub
Virginia wants to establish a facility for drone testing at the Wallops Flight Facility. Officials say the permanent duty station would provide 400 jobs. It is in competition with Key West Naval Air Station and Mayport Naval Air Station in Florida.
China Builds on Reefs in the South China Sea
China turns previously submerged coral reefs in the Spratlys archipelago into artificial islands complete with buildings, runways and wharves.
