Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and EADS Defence & Security (DS) have debuted the first Euro Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in an unveiling ceremony today at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, facility. The Euro Hawk marks the first international configuration of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAS, and solidifies Northrop Grumman's first transatlantic cooperation with Germany and DS.

More than 300 employees from Northrop Grumman and DS as well as officials from the German Air Force and Ministry of Defence (MoD) gathered for the ceremony, which concluded in a dramatic curtain drop revealing the distinctively different aircraft that will be equipped with German sensors. Based on the Block 20 Global Hawk, Euro Hawk will be equipped with new signal intelligence (SIGINT) mission system developed by DS. A ground station consisting of a mission control and launch and recovery elements will be provided by Northrop Grumman. DS will also provide a SIGINT ground station, which will receive and analyze the data from Euro Hawk as part of an integrated system solution. With a wingspan larger than a commercial airliner and endurance of 30 hours, Euro Hawk is an interoperable, modular and cost-effective replacement to the aging fleet of manned Breguet Atlantic aircraft, which have been in service since 1972 and will be retired in 2010. Subsequent systems are anticipated for delivery between 2016 and 2017 following successful testing and introduction in German operational service in 2011.

On January 31, 2007, the German MoD awarded a $559 million contract to EuroHawk GmbH for the development, test and support of the Euro Hawk SIGINT system. DS is a systems solutions provider for armed forces and civil security worldwide. Its portfolio ranges from sensors and secure networks through missiles to aircraft and UAVs as well as global security, service and support solutions. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2008, EADS employed a workforce of about 118,000.