Autonomous Global Hawk Unmanned Aircraft System Surpasses 200,000 Flight Hours
July 26 2016 - 11:00AM
Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) autonomous Global Hawk
unmanned aircraft system (UAS) surpassed 200,000 flight hours,
reinforcing its status as the most effective high altitude, long
endurance intelligence gathering aircraft in the world. The U.S.
Air Force's Global Hawks logged 88 percent of the 200,000 flight
hours with the remaining hours flown by NASA Global Hawks,
Germany's Full Scale Demonstrator and the Navy's broad area
maritime surveillance aircraft systems.
Photos accompanying this release are available at:
http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=40921
Global Hawks operate at altitudes up to 60,000 feet for more
than 30 hours, surveying thousands of square miles on a single
mission. Global Hawk carries a variety of 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 has set endurance records and displayed an
unmatched record of safety while reducing per hour flight costs to
half the cost of the manned alternative," said Mick Jaggers, vice
president and program manager, Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman. "This
milestone is especially meaningful as it comes just before the 15th
anniversary of Global Hawk's first deployment into the theater of
operations following the tragic events of 9/11. We expect Global
Hawk to continue to provide indispensable ISR information to our
warfighters."
The Global Hawk system is building on its heritage of
innovation, modernizing its current capabilities by integrating new
technologies that enhance capabilities, performance and
reliability. Earlier this year, Global Hawk successfully flew a
SYERS-2 intelligence gathering sensor, marking the first time the
legacy Air Force sensor has been demonstrated on a high altitude
autonomous aircraft. Northrop Grumman plans to fly an Optical Bar
Camera and an MS-177 multispectral sensor later this year via
Global Hawk's open systems architecture.
Global Hawk entered combat operations shortly after the 9/11
terrorist attacks. Since then, it has flown operational and
humanitarian missions around the world supporting Southern
California wildfires, the Japanese tsunami, the Haitian earthquake
and the Philippines' typhoon. NASA Global Hawk actively monitors
environmental changes, tropical storm developments and provides
ground breaking approaches to high altitude atmospheric
research.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems,
cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to government
and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
CONTACT: Greg Lund
858-618-5030 (office)
858-243-2136 (mobile)
gregory.lund@ngc.com
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