Major new construction at Area 51 is raising fresh questions about what advanced aircraft and unmanned systems may be under development at the highly secretive Nevada test facility, with a cluster of enormous new hangars dramatically expanding the base’s available infrastructure. The War Zone reports.

The construction includes four large hangars, identified as buildings 20 through 23, with the combined structures covering a massive footprint. Their size and configuration have fueled speculation that the facilities could support testing involving large numbers of unmanned combat aircraft.

One possibility is that the expansion is connected to increasingly sophisticated testing of autonomous aircraft operating together in coordinated formations or swarms. Such work would require extensive space for aircraft storage, maintenance, mission preparation and rapid turnaround between test flights.

The facilities could also support classified crewed aircraft programs or a combination of manned and unmanned systems. Area 51 has historically played a central role in testing some of America’s most sensitive aviation programs.

There has been no official confirmation of what the new hangars will house, and their connection to UCAV swarm testing remains speculative. But the scale of the construction underscores the continuing expansion of classified flight-test activity at Groom Lake.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)