Global Hawk Disappointment

The Pentagon's decision to cancel the Global Hawk Block 30 program and have the U-2 aircraft the unmanned system's mission resulted in disappointment for Global Hawk builder Northrop Grumman. In a just-released statement, the company pledges "to work with the Pentagon to assess alternatives to program termination." The statement further reads:

The Global Hawk program has demonstrated its utility in U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as its utility in humanitarian operations in Japan and Haiti. Just a few months ago, the Pentagon published an acquisition decision memorandum regarding Global Hawk Block 30 that stated: 'The continuation of the program is essential to the national security... there are no alternatives to the program which will provide acceptable capability to meet the joint military requirement at less cost.'

Global Hawk is the modern solution to providing surveillance. It provides long duration persistent surveillance, and collects information using multiple sensors on the platform. In contrast, the aging U-2 program, first introduced in the 1950s, places pilots in danger, has limited flight duration, and provides limited sensor capacity. Extending the U-2's service life also represents additional investment requirements for that program.

Northrop Grumman is committed to working with our customers to provide the best solutions for our country and our allies. We are pleased with the continuing support for the Global Hawk Block 40 system, as well as for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance system and our other unmanned systems.

InsideDefense.com reported earlier this month that the top developmental testing official in the Pentagon's acquisition directorate had recommended not proceeding to initial operational testing for the Global Hawk, a recommendation the Air Force chose to ignore.

Moreover, in December 2011, Inside the Air Force reported that service Secretary Michael Donley would not finish the tasks that former acquisition chief Ashton Carter set out for the restructure of the Global Hawk program until the submission to Congress of the fiscal year 2013 budget request, adding:

Earlier this year, the Air Force began implementing more than a dozen initiatives required by the Pentagon's acquisition executive as part of the restructuring of the Global Hawk program. The initiatives were listed in a "for official use only" June 14 acquisition decision memorandum (ADM) issued by Carter. The plan included establishing independent review teams to assess everything from reliability to operational performance that are slated for completion beginning in the summer of 2011 and moving forward through 2012.

Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Cassidy told Inside the Air Force in a Dec. 21 email that within 30 days of receiving the ADM, Donley supported the Global Hawk Block 40 milestone C decision and submitted a Block 40 test and evaluation concept briefing to the deputy assistant secretary of defense for developmental test and evaluation and the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation.

In addition, he has provided, or will soon provide, copies of the updated Air Force Weapon System Agreements to the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for materiel readiness. Donley also, as the June 14 ADM requested, established a senior-level Air Force reliability and maintainability subject matter expert review team to make assessments and recommendations for reliability and sustainability improvement activities.

Last month, Global Hawk program manager Col. Karl Rozelsky told ITAF that the team's first meeting took place on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 and that it was scheduled to meet again this month to mull over how to make reliability and maintainability improvements. The team consists of 10 or 11 members -- primarily subject matter experts in reliability and maintainability -- and is chaired by an engineer who works under Air Force Acquisition Executive David Van Buren, he said during a November interview (ITAF, Nov. 18, p. 1).

Check out Inside the Air Force tomorrow for more Global Hawk coverage.