Investigators Look Into BAMS-D Loss

The U.S. Navy is investigating what caused the crash of a Northrop Grumman-built Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) unmanned aircraft into swamps near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. on June 11. The aircraft, a Block 10 RQ-4 version equipped with maritime sensors, was being used by the U.S. Navy as part of tests in the run-up to delivery of the initial purpose-built MQ-4C. The first of these is scheduled to be handed over to the Navy at a special ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility on June 14 ...