By Marina Malenic
The Air Force and Navy are discussing ways to more efficiently operate RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4 Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) drones in the Pacific, officials said last week.
Although the two platforms are designed to meet service-specific requirements, similarities warrant a joint effort to achieve maximum efficiency, Air Force officials told reporters during a basing ceremony for the RQ-4 on Guam. In the future, RQ-4s and MQ-4s operating from Andersen AFB on the island territory could share ground support and even some missions, said Lt. Gen. Herbert Carlisle, commander of 13th Air Force.
“It’s entirely possible that the Navy and the Air Force will bed those down together because they’re complementary,” Carlisle said during a Sept. 25 briefing. “They’ll have different capability but complementary capability.”
Carlisle is responsible for Air Force operations in the Pacific Command region.
The Air Force currently has 10 Global Hawks in its fleet that have been used in a wide variety of contingency operations and humanitarian missions. The Navy effort is still in development and is approaching a Critical Design Review early next year.
Two more Global Hawks are scheduled to move to Guam some time this year, with another expected in 2011, said Carlisle. Additional RQ-4s could be sent in the coming years, he added.
Earlier this year, Navy and Air Force officials agreed to greater cooperation on maintenance, training, logistics and operations for the two systems. A Synergies Working Group (SWG) was established to identify and make recommendations for achieving these ends. Signed by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz on June 12, a memorandum of agreement establishes procedures under which the BAMS and Global Hawk programs will seek commonality, interoperability, and joint efficiencies. Specifically, the Navy and Air Force will identify synergies in basing, maintenance, aircraft command and control (C2), training, logistics, and data requirements for processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) functions (Defense Daily, July 2).
In June, a key House subcommittee also asked the Pentagon to review Air Force and Navy plans to streamline acquisition for the two programs. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Air and Land Forces subcommittee questioned the services’ resolve in streamlining their unique requirements.
The remotely piloted aircraft that can fly for 30 hours at a time was developed and built by Northrop Grumman [NOC]. Company officials have said they are studying ways to lower the price of the RQ-4 in the wake of Pentagon efforts to reduce overhead costs. A series of “affordability initiatives” are being presented to key Defense Department acquisition officials as they conduct a “should-cost” review of the program leading up to the department’s Fiscal 2012 budget submission early next year.
Meanwhile, Japan is formulating a decision on the potential purchase of four RQ-4s for its missile defense operations. The decision is expected to appear in the Japanese defense policy and budget guidelines, due out in December, Northrop Grumman officials have said. According to company officials, unspecified additional countries have also expressed an interest in purchasing Global Hawks.