Global Hawk Move

A Block 10 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft that completed its final mission for the service in late May was the last Block 10 to fly as an Air Force aircraft. It also has the most flight hours of all Global Hawks -- more than 7,000 of which were flown providing surveillance for combat troops, according to a statement released this morning by Northrop Grumman, the aircraft's manufacturer. Further:

"For many years Block 10 Global Hawks have persistently performed countless missions in support of the warfighter and in support of disaster relief efforts," said George Guerra, HALE Systems vice president, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "While the aircraft have concluded their missions and support for the Air Force, they will now support missions for the U.S. Navy."

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is transferring its seven Block 10 aircraft for use by other government agencies. Currently, three were transferred to the U.S. Navy to continue to support the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration (BAMS-D) program and two were transferred for museum static displays.

In August, the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a $35.5 million annual contract for continued operations and maintenance for the BAMS-D aircraft.

All seven Air Force Block 10 Global Hawks are fully operational. The Block 10 made its first flight on Sept. 9, 2003. Since then, Air Force Block 10 aircraft flew 2,141 missions for 35,528 hours, 89 percent of which were in support of combat operations. In addition to combat missions, the aircraft supported disaster response teams addressing forest fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods and also provided support to the U.S. counter-drug mission.

After DARPA's initial seven ACTD aircraft, the Air Force contracted with Northrop Grumman to build nine Block 10s as a transitional capability until the larger Block 20 configuration could begin production. Two of the Block 10 aircraft were acquired for the Navy BAMS-D program in the original procurement program.

Follow-on aircraft:

The U.S. Air Force has deployed Block 30 Global Hawks to support the missions once supported by Block 10 aircraft. The Block 30 Global Hawks currently deployed are equipped with the Raytheon Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS). EISS includes electro optical/infrared and synthetic aperture radar. Within the next year, the Block 30 aircraft will be reconfigured to include Northrop Grumman's multi-intelligence sensor package, the Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload, in addition to EISS.

Inside the Air Force reports this morning that Northrop Grumman is looking into the possibility of buying spare parts in bulk and early on as a way to shave down the dollar figure of its Global Hawk program:

George Guerra, vice president of the company's high-altitude, long-endurance systems, told Inside the Air Force during a Sept. 21 interview that the company is looking into the possibility of ordering spares when negotiating the price of equipment to obtain a quantity price break as one of 243 initiatives being evaluated by Northrop Grumman and the Air Force.

"We're going to do that as much as possible," Guerra said. "And you'll see a decrease in price because instead of going to a supplier and saying, 'Can I buy two sensors from you?' Now, with spares, you can go to them and say, 'I need those two sensors and spare parts from you,' and you get a price break."

Purchasing the materials in bulk is just one of the initiatives Northrop Grumman is evaluating, according to company executives. Those initiatives were supposed to be discussed during an August affordability workshop at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH, that was designed to unite the Air Force and Northrop Grumman employees in their search for savings, according to company executives (ITAF, Aug. 12, p.2).

For additional Gobal Hawk news, see below:

Senior-Level Team Established For Restructuring Of Global Hawk Program

Air Combat Command Looks At New Capabilities For Global Hawk Aircraft

Global Hawk Budget Woes Incite Push To Separate Air And Ground Segments

Air Force And Northrop To Hold Global Hawk Affordability Workshop