America’s drone fleet

Northrop Grumman Corp. unveiled the first U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) in a ceremony at its Palmdale manufacturing facility last June. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Feb. 22, 2013 11:57 AM PT

Robotic aircraft as small as hummingbirds and as large as commercial jets are taking to the skies.

Workers at Northrop Grumman’s Antelope Valley Manufacturing Center in Palmdale work on assembly of the Global Hawk. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A ground crew from U.S. Air Force 163d Reconnaissance Wing of the California National Guard pushes a Predator aircraft from its hanger at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Pilot Mark Bernhardt keeps an eye on a Predator unmanned drone from his chase plane as they fly over Victorville. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A Reaper drone aircraft comes in for a touch-and-go landing during a training program at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Young members of the Air National Guard learn how to do maintenance on the MQ-Reaper drone. Members of the 174 Fighter Wing of the New York Air National Guard, based at Syracuse’s Hancock Field, are flying unmanned aircraft, including the MQ-Reaper, used in Afghanistan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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