Global Hawk UAV gets bigger and more capable

2005 The Global Hawk UAV was still in its development stages when the needs of the war in Afghanistan saw it pressed into service. Since then, Global Hawk has successfully completed more than 225 missions through three deployments and more than 4,900 combat flight hours. Now the aircraft has been redesigned to carry 50% more payload, so the Air Force can install additional sensors, enhancing its ability to simultaneously collect imagery, signals intelligence and infrared and radar information, and transfer it to the warfighting machine in near-real time. Global Hawk flies autonomously at an altitude of more than 60,000 feet, above inclement weather and prevailing winds, for 35+ hours at a time. During a single mission, it can provide detailed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information in near-real time over 40,000 square miles - approximately the size of Illinois.

To accommodate the increased payload capacity, Northrop Grumman has redesigned and strengthened Global Hawk's fuselage. The RQ-4B's fuselage is four feet longer and just slightly taller than the RQ-4A's. The wingspan has also increased by approximately fifteen feet, allowing the RQ-4B to carry more fuel. The RQ-4B also features a gross take-off weight 5500 pounds heavier than that of the RQ-4A and a payload of 3000 pounds, 50% more than the previous model.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a contract to begin production of the next five RQ-4B Global Hawk aerial reconnaissance systems. The new $60 million contract will allow the company to start purchasing long-lead parts for the unmanned air vehicles, the enhanced integrated sensor suites for four of the air vehicles, one mission-control element, and one launch-and-recovery element. Production of the hardware for these five new RQ-4B air vehicles is expected to begin late this year, with assembly starting next year.

Northrop Grumman is currently producing five RQ-4B Global Hawks at its manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif., as part of several previous limited-production contracts.

History of the Global Hawk

Global Hawk began as an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration in 1995, to give war-fighters a rapidly developed prototype that can be used for Military Utility Assessment (MUA) and early operational activities. In June 1999, Global Hawk began a series of exercises sponsored by U.S. Joint Forces Command to determine its future military uses.

On April 20, 2000, Global Hawk Air Vehicle No. 4 deployed to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to participate in two exercises that included its first trans-oceanic flight to Europe, and first mission flown in one theater of operations while under control from another.

The first exercise, Linked Seas 00, which ran May 1-12, 2000, involved joint and service war-fighters, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Supreme Allied Command Atlantic, its regional command, and several NATO nations, among them Portugal. Global Hawk provided direct support to amphibious operations in a joint-force environment involving air, sea, sub-surface and land-based assets.

During the second exercise, Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 00-02, which took place from May 14-26, 2000, Global Hawk provided direct support for the joint maritime mission of a Navy Carrier Battle Group and an Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit in a littoral (land-sea) environment. Global Hawk returned to Edwards AFB, Calif., on June 19, 2000, concluding the deployment exercise demonstration program.

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