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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has completed early delivery of two Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to the U.S. Air Force. Global Hawk allows military commanders to receive high-resolution imagery, survey vast geographic regions and pinpoint targets on the ground.
Both aircraft were delivered ahead of schedule in late November.
"Global Hawk's ability to fly more than 30 hours at high altitudes while gathering multiple types of intelligence data makes it extremely valuable to field commanders who need near real-time information," said George Guerra, vice president for Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems. "These new aircraft add to that capability."
In 2012, three new Global Hawks were delivered to the Air Force and five previously delivered aircraft completed installation of additional sensors that will allow them to gather multiple types of intelligence data during a single mission.
A total of 37 Global Hawks have been delivered to the Air Force.
Global Hawk carries a variety of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensor payloads that allow military commanders to gather imagery and use radar to detect moving or stationary targets on the ground. The system also provides airborne communications and information sharing capabilities to military units in harsh environments.
Combined with Global Hawk's ability to fly for long periods, the aircraft's 12,300 nautical mile range makes the system ideally suited to take on many different ISR missions.
Global Hawk has logged more than 80,000 flight hours and has been used over battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The unmanned aircraft system has also supported intelligence gathering and reconnaissance efforts following the devastating earthquakes that struck Haiti and Japan.
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Monday, January 07, 2013
Northrop Grumman Delivers Global Hawks to U.S. Air Force
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Can the Global Hawk replace systems like the E-8 JSTARS or will the USAF be forced to buy a version of the P-8?
ReplyDeletei have absolutely no idea...i do know that the global hawk picked up a canoe on the bottom of its fuselage. what it contains is beyond me but they just re-engined the E-8 so it would be in addition to and not an in place of option.
DeleteThey might have gotten 37 but that's not what they operate. I'm not even sure the 16 or so block 30's are in active service as last year the USAF tried very hard to get rid of them but Congress said no. The U-2 was found to be more cost effective than the block 30. There is a block 40 in production but I'm not sure if it's operational yet.
ReplyDeleteThe USAF has said it's looking at business jets to replace the E-8 and also that there's no money to do so. See British Sentinel program and Israeli G550 system operated by them, Italy, and Singapore.