Global Hawk Test Update

Air Combat Command has loaned a Block 40 RQ-4B Global Hawk to the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, to support testing activities there.

According to an Aug. 22 Air Force statement, the aircraft will be incorporated into the Global Vigilance Combined Test Force's (CVCTF) Global Hawk group. The group already has Block 40 and Block 20 aircraft, and the addition of one Block 40 from ACC will support testing of a diminishing manufacturing source and INMARSAT satellite communications upgrades.

Both upgrades are vital to continued Global Hawk operations as the program moves from development and production to the sustainment phase.

One upgrade deals with parts obsolescence issues and the other supports changes to the INMARSAT system from the existing I-3 system to the more advanced I-4 Aero-M service. Existing INMARSAT users must make equipment and software changes to comply with the new system by late 2016.

“The importance of INMARSAT testing is that in the end of calendar year 2016, if we don't make these modifications across the fleet, our fleet faces potential grounding,” CVCTF Global Hawk Program Manager Teresa Bennett said in the Aug 22 statement.

The 412 Test Wing's existing Block 40 Global Hawk aircraft is supporting NATO's $1.7 billion Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program. The United States is a member of the 13-nation group procuring the aircraft for surveillance and target-indication operations over Europe.

The group is buying five Global Hawk Block 40 aircraft and activities at Edwards AFB support testing of maritime modes on the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, a primary Block 40 payload.

Global Hawk program officials plan to conduct an initial operational test and evaluation of the Block 40 MP-RTIP system in early fiscal year 2015. That test was slated to occur in FY-14 but was pushed back due to development issues.

“There are a lot of projects using our current air vehicle; that's all the more reason why it's so valuable to have another air vehicle to allow deconfliction,” Bennett said.

According to the Air Force statement, the 412th Test Wing did have a Block 30 system but that asset was returned to Air Combat Command to support operational needs.

The Block 20 aircraft feature a Global Hawk RQ-4B airframe but carry a different sensor payload.

The Global Hawk produced by Northrop Grumman. Earlier this month the Air Force awarded Northrop a $241 million production contract for its last order of Block 30 aircraft, due for delivery between 2016 and 2017.

The Air Force has 11 Block 40 Global Hawks in its inventory, but service officials are considering retiring the fleet if there is no relief from sequestration in FY-16.