Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Military Space News .




UAV NEWS
Northrop Grumman Unmanned Portfolio Achieves 100,000 Flight Hours Over Last 15 Years
by Staff Writers
San Diego CA (SPX) Sep 12, 2013


Global Hawk has been used over many battlefields including Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Northrop Grumman's portfolio of high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have achieved 100,000 flight hours - more than 88 percent of which were logged by the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk. The remaining hours were flown by the NASA Global Hawks, the German EURO HAWK, and the U.S. Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator and, more recently, Triton UAS.

"U.S. Air Force Global Hawk is performing well and has contributed to the global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] mission, flying approximately 75 percent of its total flight hours in combat to support six combatant commands," said Col. Carlin Heimann, Global Hawk system program director for the U.S. Air Force.

"The 100,000-hour milestone is a tribute to a great team that has supported combat operations for more than a decade."

Global Hawk carries a variety of ISR sensor payloads that allow military commanders to gather near real-time 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.

"Global Hawk flew for the first time in 1998 and was used by the Air Force for surveillance missions over Afghanistan just three years later," said George Guerra, Northrop Grumman's vice president for Global Hawk UAS. "Global Hawk has been used continuously by the Air Force since that time. The system has also supported disaster response efforts, science studies conducted by NASA and is the foundation of our new HALE Enterprise."

Combined with Global Hawk's ability to fly for more than 30 hours, the aircraft can fly almost half the circumference of the world without refueling, making the system ideally suited to take on many different ISR missions.

Global Hawk has been used over many battlefields including Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The UAS has also supported reconnaissance and disaster response efforts following the devastating earthquakes that struck Haiti and Japan. In 2007, Global Hawk was used to cue firefighters about hotspots during the rapidly moving wildfires in Southern California.

The system holds a number of long-endurance flight world records. In 2001, Global Hawk set an official record for the longest flight by a UAS at 30 hours, 24 minutes, 1 second. That same year, Global Hawk became the only UAS to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean from Southern California to Australia. Since then, Global Hawks have routinely flown longer and farther. In 2008, a Global Hawk Block 20 flew for 33.1 hours - the longest mission logged to date.

Earlier this year, the Global Hawk program received the 2012 Dr. James G. Roche Sustainment Excellence Award for demonstrating the most improved performance in aircraft maintenance and logistics readiness. The prestigious award is named for the 20th secretary of the Air Force to promote maintenance excellence.

.


Related Links
Northrop Grumman
UAV News - Suppliers and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








UAV NEWS
New Hydra project to see underwater drones deploying drones
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Sep 10, 2013
The sky is no longer the limit for US drone warfare, with secret military research agency DARPA considering a conquest of the seven seas with an underwater drone carrier. America's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently held a presentation of its new Hydra unmanned underwater drone carrier project at John's Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. 'Proposer's Day' ... read more


UAV NEWS
Israel deploys Iron Dome system near Jerusalem: AFP

Israel says missile tested in joint exercise with US

Israel deploys Iron Dome defence system: Netanyahu

Modernized Patriot system aces PAC-3 test

UAV NEWS
Anti-Ship Missile Prototype Conducts First Solo Test Flight

US Army awards Raytheon contract for Excalibur Ib

Lockheed Martin Completes First LRASM Air-Launch Flight Test

Lockheed Martin Adds Integrated Missile Defense Command and Control Option to Dragon Family of ISR Configurations

UAV NEWS
Northrop Grumman Unmanned Portfolio Achieves 100,000 Flight Hours Over Last 15 Years

Tiniest autopilot unit created for small micro aerial vehicles

Sharp rise in British drone use in Afghanistan

Promise of jobs triggers scramble for civilian drones

UAV NEWS
Unified Military Intelligence Picture Helping to Dispel the Fog of War

New Military Communications Satellite Built By Lockheed Martin Launches

US Navy Poised to Launch Lockheed Martin-Built Secure Communications Satellite for Mobile Users

Northrop Grumman Moves New B-2 Satellite Communications Concept to the High Ground

UAV NEWS
Warrior Web Closer to Making Its Performance-Improving Suit a Reality

Russia unveils plans for new anti-missile system, 5th-generation fighter jet

MEADS System to Identify Friend Or Foe Aircraft Certified by U.S. Air Traffic Control Office

Lockheed Martin's paveway II Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb Successfully Employed in Navy Exercises

UAV NEWS
Philippines again stops procurement process for used Huey choppers

Chinese, French companies ejected from London arms fair

US spying on Brazil halts talks on warplane purchase: Brazil

Chinese man faces jail for smuggling US arms equipment

UAV NEWS
Abe vows to boost Japan defence amid 'provocations'

Outside View: Ukrainian president and European values

Outside View: The fall of our discontent

Japan on high alert for disputed islands anniversary

UAV NEWS
Size Matters as Nanocrystals Go Through Phases

New breakthrough for structural characterization of metal nanoparticles

Toxic nanoparticles might be entering human food supply

Plasma-treated nano filters help purify world water supply




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement