The Air Force last week awarded Northrop Grumman [NOC] a $302.9 million fixed price contract for five RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft systems.
Under the Lot 7 production contract, the company will build two Block 30 systems and three Block 40 systems for the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Group at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio.
The award also includes a ground station consisting of a launch and recovery element and a mission control element, plus two additional sensor suites that will be retrofitted into previous production aircraft. The contract runs through 2011.
Next year, the company is expected to deliver the two Block 30 aircraft equipped with the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS), which provides electro-optical/infrared and synthetic aperture radar imaging capabilities. These aircraft will also be retrofitted to incorporate the production Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload.
The Lot 7 contract also includes the first production Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program payloads, which are expected to be contractually awarded later this year. The company will also deliver two EISS suites for use on aircraft delivered earlier.
As the world’s first fully autonomous HALE UAS, Global Hawk can soar at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours and send near-real-time reconnaissance imagery and signals intelligence data. Compared to similar UAS, a Global Hawk collects the same amount of data as 18 smaller medium-altitude UAS.
Global Hawks are flown in four locations: the main operating base at Beale AFB, Calif.; Edwards AFB, Calif.; Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.; and an undisclosed forward operating base in support of operations in the Persian Gulf.