RQ-4 Global Hawk showcases expanded mission capabilities
NewsAugust 27, 2014
SAN DIEGO. – The U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk Wide Area Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) demonstrated its ability to operate with an expanded variety of intelligence exploitation ground stations and collect mission data in multiple places during tests this summer.
The Global Hawk, built by Northrop Grumman Corp., has a Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor capable of detecting fixed and moving targets. Test flights out of Edwards Air Force Base demonstrated interoperability with the latest Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) upgrades. Another test saw positive results from new MP-RTIP maritime modes, demonstrating the collection capabilities that make the Global Hawk relevant to the Arctic and Mediterranean missions of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (NATO AGS) system.
"The flights demonstrated Northrop Grumman's latest software development in anticipation of Initial Operational Test & Evaluation [IOT&E] in 2015," says Mick Jaggers, Global Hawk program manager, Northrop Grumman.
The aircraft interoperability flights of more than 30 hours endurance were some of the longest aircraft missions flown during development tests from Edwards Air Force Base. One mission stretched across three days and collected mission data from the North Pacific coast to the Eastern edge of the Gulf of Mexico via various intelligence centers. Other MP-RTIP test flights in July were used to test new software to enable maritime modes for the MP-RTIP radar for the NATO AGS system.
