Thu, Oct 16, 2003
Big UAV All Set to Begin Further Flight Demonstrations
A U.S. Air Force RQ-4A
Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV) landed in Germany Wednesday
to begin a key airborne ground surveillance flight demonstration
program for the German Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Equipped with an EADS-produced electronic intelligence (ELINT)
sensor, the Northrop Grumman-produced UAV touched down at the
German navy's Nordholz Air Base near Cuxhaven at approximately
04:05 local time. The arrival followed a 20-hour, 53-minute flight
across the Atlantic from Edwards Air Force Base (CA).
Over the next three weeks, a test team from EADS, Northrop
Grumman and the Air Force will conduct several flights of the
ELINT-sensor-equipped UAV to demonstrate the technical feasibility
of using UAVs to perform high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE)
wide-area surveillance (WAS) missions. A successful test program
could lead to a decision by the German MoD to develop and produce a
Global Hawk-derived sensor platform called Euro Hawk(tm) to satisfy
its HALE WAS mission requirements.
Proposed by Northrop Grumman and EADS as a HALE WAS solution,
Euro Hawk will be based on the RQ-4B model Global Hawk and will
carry an EADS-developed sensor package. The German MoD currently
uses conventional manned platforms to perform ELINT missions.
Prior to its deployment
to Nordholz, the EADS ELINT-sensor-equipped Global Hawk performed
several successful test flights in the U.S. EADS developed the
ELINT sensor as a company-funded project.
The arrival of Global Hawk represents the latest milestone in a
trans-Atlantic cooperative project between the German MoD and the
Air Force that began in October 2001. The goals of the bilateral
project are to introduce a UAV to European-controlled airspace and
demonstrate how UAVs can be used to conduct HALE WAS missions. The
agreement includes operation of the HALE air vehicle, ELINT sensor
integration and the flight demonstration program.
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