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Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft
Earns an Additional Military Airworthiness Certification
SAN DIEGO – Nov. 20, 2009 – Northrop Grumman Corporation
(NYSE:NOC) announced the U.S. Air Force has granted the RQ-4 Global
Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system
(UAS) a military Airworthiness Certification (AWC), a significant
milestone in the life of the aircraft system and a step on the path to
routine unmanned flight within the United States.
The AWC process verifies an aircraft design has met performance
requirements within the mission profile to safely fly in national
airspace and assures operators and mission managers that the production
articles conform to the design. In granting the certification to RQ-4,
the next generation of Block 20 and 30 Global Hawk UAS, the U.S. Air
Force has recognized the aircraft's ability to routinely fly safely
within design parameters. The certification process evaluated more than
600 airworthiness criteria.
"This was a more rigorous and more complete evaluation than that
of any other unmanned system," said George Guerra, vice president of
HALE systems for Northrop Grumman. "With this historic accomplishment
and more than 35,000 total flight hours, most of that time in combat
support over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan, Global Hawk continues
to be a trailblazer in UAS certifications and a pathfinder supporting
our men and women overseas in combat."
Just as commercial aircraft are certified by the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), military aircraft are evaluated against
certain criteria including durability, capability to adjust to sudden
changes in aerodynamic forces, and redundancies of systems and
subsystems. Without this Air Force certification, the FAA cannot grant
permission to fly within the United States, which is the next step in
the on-going process to accept the routine flight of unmanned aircraft
in the national airspace.
"This certification resulted from a large collaborative effort
between the government and the contractor, agreeing on standards and
verification methods and ultimately coming together on the assessment
of the system. With its Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration
legacy design and early push to support Overseas Contingency Operations
and U-2 retirement, this was the first comprehensive assessment of the
aircraft to ensure it is ready to fly in national airspace and ready
for the user to train with at Beale AFB," said Yvette Weber, chief
engineer at the 303d Aeronautical Systems Group at Wright Patterson AFB
in Dayton, Ohio.
The certification is the latest example of success for the
Northrop Grumman Global Hawk program. In 2006, the Block 10 version, or
RQ-4A, made history when it became the first UAS to earn both a
military airworthiness certification and a national certificate of
authorization to operate in the national airspace. This airworthiness
certification covers all Block 20 and Block 30 Global Hawks delivered
to the U.S. Air Force thus far.
Global Hawk flies autonomously at altitudes of more than 60,000
feet, above inclement weather and prevailing winds, for more than 32
hours at a time. The first-generation experimental Global Hawks
deployed overseas to the Persian Gulf less than two months after Sept.
11, 2001. Since then, Block 10 Global Hawks have been flying nearly
continuously, supporting combat operations in the region. The Block 20
and 30 systems, capable of carrying 50 percent more payload with
improved sensors, are scheduled to begin operations with the U.S. Air
Force at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and at several overseas
locations, next year.
Recently, the Block 20 aircraft system was chosen to be modified
with special communications relay equipment to support coalition combat
forces in Afghanistan. The Block 30 Global Hawk carries sophisticated
imaging and electronic signals sensors on missions that can exceed 30
hours. A similar certification will be granted in the near future for
the Block 40 system, which is based on the same aircraft design of
Block 20 and 30 but carries an advanced radar imaging and ground moving
target tracking system used to track enemy movement, regardless of
weather conditions on the ground.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security
company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products,
and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems,
shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial
customers worldwide.
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Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk Unmanned
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