ALL ALONE, FOR THE LONG HAUL ROBOT SPYPLANE CROSSES COUNTRY FIRST OF NAVY MARITIME UNMANNED FLIERS GOES 10 HOURS TO MARYLAND BASE.

Byline: Daily News

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - A Global Hawk robot spyplane known as N-1 completed a 10-hour cross-continental flight from Edwards Air Force Base to the U.S. Navy's air testing base in Maryland.

The N-1, the first RQ-4A Global Hawk delivered to the U.S. Navy, went to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in preparation for the Navy's Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2006.

"The successful delivery of N-1 to Pax River marks a major milestone in the joint development of the Global Hawk reconnaissance system," said Col. Christopher Cook, 412th Operations Group Commander.

The unmanned, computer-controlled reconnaissance aircraft is one of two acquired by the U.S. Navy through the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Program. Other Global Hawks have operated for the U.S. Air Force over Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment is a worldwide training exercise. The Global Hawk will demonstrate unmanned long-endurance sea surveillance for the Navy, the Department of Defense and Homeland Security agencies.

Prior to its flight from Edwards to Maryland, the aircraft was deemed safe for flight in national airspace by Edwards' Global Vigilance Combined Test Force.

"This flight clearance will allow the U.S. Navy to conduct routine flight operations with the (Global Hawk) system in and out of Patuxent River with manned aircraft," said Terry Barefoot, Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration program manager.

Global Hawks are assembled by Northrop Grumman in Palmdale. Flight testing was done at Edwards to evaluate the performance of sensor modifications for the Navy. The modifications were developed beginning in 2001 when the Global Hawk program, working with the Australian government, developed maritime modes for the Global Hawk's synthetic aperture radar.

The modes were initially tested at Edwards, and then demonstrated during a deployment to Australia in the fall of 2001, said Tony Kaiser, Edwards' 412th Test Wing project manager for Global Hawk.

"The U.S. Navy adapted these modes to the production Global Hawk SAR and developed maritime modes that met their requirements," Kaiser said.

"These maritime modes were again tested at Edwards by a combined Global Vigilance CTF and Navy test team."

The Navy Global Hawk's cross-country flight plan was designed to keep it away from population centers and congested airspace. The mission plan also had to accommodate emergency planning that would allow the aircraft to land at an alternate runway or in an unpopulated area across the entire continent, Edwards officials said.

The flight route was coordinated with the FAA and other airspace controlling agencies across the United States and all emergency landing points were coordinated with their owners, Edwards officials said.

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The Global Hawk N-1, an RQ-4A unmanned spyplane, takes off from the Edwards runway March 27 for a one-way mission to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The N-1 is the first Global Hawk delivered to the U.S. Navy.