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RQ-4A/B
Global Hawk High-Altitude Long-Endurance HALE Unmanned Aerial System |
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The
RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted
aircraft with an integrated sensor suite that provides global all-weather,
day or night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.
Global Hawk is produced by US manufacturer Northrop Grumman and has
its origins in the 1995 High-Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (HAE UAV ACTD) program initiated
by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Defense
Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO). The Global Hawk took its first
flight on 28 February 1998. The Global Hawk effort succeeded because
it focused on the design and construction of a practical air vehicle
that was developmentally mature enough to be transitioned into an operational
weapons system. While still a developmental system, the Global Hawk
system began supporting overseas contingency operations only two months
after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The system has surpassed 125,000
flight hours and midway through 2014 had 100,000 combat/operational
flight hours. Global Hawk is currently fielded in three distinct blocks. Seven Block 10 aircraft were procured, but were retired from the US Air Force inventory in 2011. Northrop Grumman developed RQ-4B, which has a 50% payload increase, larger wingspan (39.9 m) and longer fuselage (14.5 m), and new generator to provide 150% more electrical output. Three RQ-4B air vehicles (block 20) were initially ordered plus a further five ordered in November 2005. Block 20 aircraft also have an upgraded sensor suite. Block 20s were initially fielded with IMINT-only capabilities, but three Block 20s have been converted to an EQ-4 communication relay configuration, carrying the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) payload. Block 30 is a multi-intelligence platform that simultaneously carries electro-optical, infrared, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and high and low band SIGINT sensors. Block 30 Initial Operating Capability (IOC) was declared in August 2011. Eighteen Block 30s are currently fielded, supporting every geographic combatant command as well as combat missions in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom/ New Dawn. Block 30s also supported Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya and humanitarian relief efforts during Operation Tomodachi in Japan. Block 40 carries the Radar Technology Insertion Program (RTIP) active electronically scanned array radar which provides MTI and SAR data. Block 40 Early Operating Capability (EOC) was declared in September 2013 and eleven Block 40s are currently fielded, supporting operations in four combatant commands. IOC is projected in 2015. The Global Hawk RQ-4 and its variants are actually only in use in the US Air Force (33 units in active duty in October 2014). In December 2007, two Global Hawks were transferred from the U.S. Air Force to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. Moreover, many potential operators have expressed interest in purchasing the RQ-4 Global Hawk: Australia, Canada, Japan, Spain, New-Zealand and India. On 17 December 2014, Northrop Grumman was officially awarded a contract worth over $657 million to provide South Korea with four RQ-4B Block 30 Global Hawks with all to be delivered by June 2019. |
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Variants | ||||||||||||||||||||||
RQ-4A Global Hawk: initial serie | ||||||||||||||||||||||
RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 20: have an upgraded sensor suite with IMINT-only capabilities, three Block 20 converted to an EQ-4 communication relay configuration, carrying the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) payload | ||||||||||||||||||||||
RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30: multi-intelligence platform that simultaneously carries electro-optical, infrared, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and high and low band SIGINT sensors | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Design | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The
RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted
aircraft with an integrated sensor suite that provides global all-weather,
day or night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.
The Global Hawk system consists of the RQ-4 air vehicle; mission control
element (MCE) with two workstations for a pilot and a sensor operator
crew; launch and recovery element (LRE) also operated by pilot with
his workstation acting as the cockpit; a wide variety of sensors; command
and control links covering health and status of the aircraft, sensors,
navigational systems and communication links; support element; and trained
personnel. Global Hawk, which has a wingspan of 39.8 m, is 14.5 meters
long and 4.7 m height. |
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Mobility |
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The
Global hawk is powered by a single Rolls-Royce AE 3007H Turbofan engine
with 8,600 pounds of thrust, specifically developed for the Global Hawk
program is a growth version of the AE3007 engine, currently in use in
the Citation X and the Embraer Regional Jet. The Rolls-Royce AE 3007
(military designation F137) is an 8,600-pound class high-bypass two-spool
turbofan engine featuring a wide-chord single-stage low-pressure compressor,
a 14-stage high pressure compressor followed by an effusion-cooled annular
combustor, a two-stage high-pressure turbine, and a three-stage low-pressure
turbine. The AE 3007H is derived from the AE 1107C-Liberty turboshaft
engine used on the Bell Helicopter Textron/Boeing V-22 Osprey. It was
initially developed to create a turbofan member of the AE common core
family for the regional jet and medium/large business jet markets but
has subsequently been developed for military aircraft applications.
A single AE 3007H engine allows the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
to fly at an altitude of max. 19,812 m while providing over 32 hours
of real-time mission imagery to battlefield commanders. The system has
proven itself in the skies over Afghanistan and Iraq. The RQ-4 can range
as far as 22,780 km and fly at speeds approaching 574 km/h. |
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Payload
equipment |
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The
RQ-4 Block 20 features a communications relay payload, the now cancelled
Block 30 features a multi intelligence suite for imagery and signals
intelligence collection. The RQ-4 Block 40 aircraft provides a new generation
of surveillance capability to monitor large areas in all weather. The
Global Hawk Block 40 is equipped with the AN/ZPY-2 multi-platform radar
technology insertion program (MP-RTIP) Active Electronically Scanned
Array (AESA) radar, which is an advanced air-to-surface radar for wide
area surveillance of fixed and moving targets. The MP-RTIP sensor allows
military commanders to gather near real-time imagery of moving targets.
The RQ-4B Block 40 is also equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
“Spot and Swath” Imagery for fixed targets; a Ground Moving
Target Indicator (GMTI) for moving objects; Wideband Ku SATCOM and line-of-sight
connectivity for communication purposes; ground servers store data for
worldwide network access and data storage. The Global Hawk is equipped
with a Hughes Integrated Surveillance & Reconnaissance (HISAR) sensor
system. HISAR is a lower-cost derivative of Raytheon Company's ASARS-2
package, which Hughes Electronics (now part of Raytheon) developed for
the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady spyplane. |
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Combat use | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Global
Hawk's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of ISR collection capability
to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency
and wartime operations. The Global Hawk provides persistent near-real-time
coverage using imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT)
and moving target indicator (MTI) sensors. Global Hawk can carry out
reconnaissance missions in all types of operations. The 22,780 km range
and 32-hour endurance of the air vehicle, combined with satellite and
line-of-sight communication links to ground forces, permits worldwide
operation of the system. High-resolution sensors, including visible
and infrared electro-optical systems and synthetic aperture radar, will
conduct surveillance over an area of 40,000nm² to an altitude of
19.8 km in 24 hours. |
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Specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial system technical data sheet specifications intelligence description information identification pictures photos images video Northrop Grumman United States American US USAF Air Force aviation aerospace defence industry mili
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