The Air Force in July will begin testing a payload adapter for the RQ-4 Global Hawk that will allow it to carry the sensor that is currently carried by the manned U-2 surveillance aircraft.
The universal payload adapter (UPA) will allow the Global Hawk to carry the wet film optical bar camera (OBC), among other electro-optical and infrared sensors. The U-2’s ability to carry the OBC, which captures huge amount of actionable intelligence imagery from high altitude in high definition, has aided the argument in favor of the manned aircraft.
The optical bar camera also is used by the State Department for treaty verification. The Air Force first ordered the U-2 fleet retired during 2011 budget negotiations, but met with political pressure to reverse the decision.
The Air Force last year tried again to retire the U-2 outright, but Congress quashed the plan. The service now plans to retire the U-2 by 2019, making the Global Hawk Block 40 the standard configuration.
Manufacturer Northrop Grumman [NOC] has long said the Global Hawk is more affordable to fly and maintain than the U-2. It also can loiter on station for up to 30 hours, compared with the limitations of having a pilot in the U-2’s cockpit.
“Testing for the UPA, which will do quite a bit more than load the optical bar camera, is approved and in motion,” said Ben Newell, a spokesman for Air Force Air Combat Command. “It will occur either at Edwards or Beale AFB [Calif.]and begin in a few months. Expected completion is within a year of its commencement.”
Northrop Grumman has said that mounting an optical bar camera requires only routing data and power from the aircraft to the device, which would be carried on the belly of the aircraft. The company last year said it had figured out how to encase the device and attach it to the Global Hawk.
The Air Force plans to test the UPA with at least one RQ-4, but did not say what other sensors or payloads it would employ during the tests. While the ability to carry the OBC could settle the argument over whether the U-2 or Global Hawk is best suited to carry out high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance missions, the UPA will allow for nearly any sensor to be carried by the Global Hawk.
Neither Northrop Grumman nor the Air Force has divulged the exact configuration of the UPA or what other modifications to the aircraft’s software are required for it to operate. Northrop Grumman has built a total 43 RQ-4s in several configurations, including two of the Navy’s Triton maritime surveillance aircraft. The company also earlier this month delivered NATO 1, the first of five the organization will operate alongside U.S. Air Force Global Hawks in Europe.