As the world's first fully autonomous HALE UAS, Global Hawk can soar at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours and send near-real-time reconnaissance imagery to air, ground, and sea forces. It can fly three times as long and operates at a fraction of the cost per flight hour than its manned counterpart. Compared to other similar UAS, it only takes a single Global Hawk to collect the same information as 18 smaller medium-altitude UAS. To date, 33 Global Hawks have been assembled, including the two for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration program, seven advanced concept technology demonstration aircraft built under the original development program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and one Euro Hawk for the German Ministry of Defence. Global Hawks are currently flown in four locations across the globe: Beale Air Force Base, home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the RQ-4's main operating base, in Northern California; Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California; Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland; and a Forward Operating Location in support of the OCO efforts.
Satnews Daily
August 6th, 2009
25K + Counting For Global Hawk UAS
Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) recently reached a major milestone —25,000 combat hours — during an operational sortie July 8-9 from a deployed location.
First flown in 1998, Global Hawk has logged 1,229 missions so far in support of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and disaster relief efforts. It has seen service in Operations Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Iraqi Freedom, and in several U.S. and international joint forces exercises. It has also provided support during Hurricane Ike and California wildfires. In addition, Global Hawk's proven and unique capabilities to fly at high altitudes and cover large areas for long periods of time led the Air Force to recently select the Block 20 configuration for the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN), an airborne communications system that will provide warfighters with critical real-time battlefield information. Tasking under the Joint Urgent Operational Need includes installing BACN on two Block 20 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, which enable around-the-clock coverage.
As the world's first fully autonomous HALE UAS, Global Hawk can soar at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours and send near-real-time reconnaissance imagery to air, ground, and sea forces. It can fly three times as long and operates at a fraction of the cost per flight hour than its manned counterpart. Compared to other similar UAS, it only takes a single Global Hawk to collect the same information as 18 smaller medium-altitude UAS. To date, 33 Global Hawks have been assembled, including the two for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration program, seven advanced concept technology demonstration aircraft built under the original development program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and one Euro Hawk for the German Ministry of Defence. Global Hawks are currently flown in four locations across the globe: Beale Air Force Base, home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the RQ-4's main operating base, in Northern California; Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California; Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland; and a Forward Operating Location in support of the OCO efforts.
As the world's first fully autonomous HALE UAS, Global Hawk can soar at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours and send near-real-time reconnaissance imagery to air, ground, and sea forces. It can fly three times as long and operates at a fraction of the cost per flight hour than its manned counterpart. Compared to other similar UAS, it only takes a single Global Hawk to collect the same information as 18 smaller medium-altitude UAS. To date, 33 Global Hawks have been assembled, including the two for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration program, seven advanced concept technology demonstration aircraft built under the original development program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and one Euro Hawk for the German Ministry of Defence. Global Hawks are currently flown in four locations across the globe: Beale Air Force Base, home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the RQ-4's main operating base, in Northern California; Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California; Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland; and a Forward Operating Location in support of the OCO efforts.