And an Israeli surveillance plane entered Lebanese airspace on Friday and left Saturday morning, it said.
By acquiring Grumman, it got into the big JointStars aerial surveillance plane contract.
ECONOMIST: America's defence companies are turning dual-purpose
While the Air Force based its decision on cost, aviation experts say there are advantages to a surveillance plane with a pilot in the cockpit.
WSJ: Cold War U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers to Receive Silver Star
The three Americans, who were working on contract to the United States government, were captured when their anti-drug surveillance plane crashed in guerrilla territory in 2003.
Neal Sealock, one of the diplomats who attended the hourlong meeting Sunday morning (Saturday afternoon ET) with the 24-member crew of the Navy EP-3 surveillance plane.
The 330 military personnel comprise 200 soldiers going to West African nations, 40 military advisers to Mali, and 90 support crew for a C-17 transport aircraft and a Sentinel R1 surveillance plane.
BBC: Mali crisis: 330 UK military personnel sent to West Africa
Underlying the growing tensions over Iran's nuclear program, the comments came as the Pentagon on Thursday disclosed details of an encounter Tuesday between U.S. and Iranian fighter jets after an Iranian plane approached a U.S. surveillance drone.
C130J transport plane was hitting problem after problem, it lost a key satellite surveillance contract to Boeing, and losses kept piling up.
ECONOMIST: America's defence companies are turning dual-purpose
Surveillance aircraft were withdrawn two years ago after the accidental downing of a civilian plane over neighbouring Peru with the loss of two lives.
It is developing a surveillance system funded by several U.S. government agencies based on an unmanned plane that will fly at an altitude of 11 miles (versus 22, 000 miles for a satellite) and stay aloft for a week at a time.
This plane, which AeroVironment hopes to start testing by next spring, is designed to fill a surveillance gap that military and intelligent services are desperate to address, so-called persistent surveillance.
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