FLYING HIGH IN LESS TIME NEW SOFTWARE MAKES GLOBAL HAWK MORE EFFICIENT.

Byline: Daily News

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - A new software program promises to cut pilots' planning time in half - down to 12 hours from 24 - for Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance plane missions, Air Force officials say.

The ``automatic contingency generation'' software lets the airplane respond itself to controllers' changes in its orders midflight, devising its own plans for what it will do in the case of major or minor emergencies.

``The combat mission doesn't work well if I have to stay on the black line all the time,'' said Lt. Col. James Wertz, 452nd Flight Test Squadron commander. ``The Joint Forces Air Component Commander wants to be able to steer this airborne asset wherever he wants it to go and take pictures of whatever he wants to take pictures of.''

Reducing the planning time means a Global Hawk can be sent out more quickly to get information combat commanders want.

The first test flights with the new program are several weeks away, officials said.

Built in Palmdale by Northrop Grumman, the Global Hawk has the ability to fly itself without the need for input from a pilot on the ground.

With present software, pilots before a mission plot a specific route for the aircraft to fly, and build in precise responses that the aircraft will make in the event that a variety of contingencies occur.

For example, if the Global Hawk loses an engine at a specific point along the route, the software provides the aircraft with a pre-planned means for getting back to the airfield and landing safely. If it faces a minor emergency or a loss of communications, the mission plan accounts for that as well.

A mission plan is built for a specific area, and once the aircraft is in that area, the pilots on the ground have the ability to make manual inputs as necessary without compromising the Global Hawk's ability to respond to contingencies.

However, depending on the mission, the aircraft will frequently need to deviate from a specific area and a specific route. The current mission planning software does not allow for those variations, Wertz said.

Once the airplane leaves the pre-planned route, the built-in guarantees for dealing with emergencies are lost.

``Automatic contingency generation puts the map-thinking brain onto the airplane,'' Wertz said. ``So the airplane does all of the mission planning that would have been done before it left the ground in that instant.''

If the pilot tells the Global Hawk to go to a different point, he explained, the ACG software onboard the aircraft immediately builds a new route, taking into account restricted airspace and other variables, and it prepares for what it will do and where it will land in the event it faces a major or minor contingency.

The new software exists in both the airplane and the mission control element that maintains communications with it from the ground.

When the pilot tells the airplane to go to a different location, both the airplane and the ground element come up with a plan, he said. Consequently, if the Global Hawk loses communications with the ground while it is traveling on this alternate route, the pilot will be able to predict what the airplane is going to do next.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Built in Palmdale by Northrop Grumman, the Global Hawk has the ability to fly itself without the need for input from a pilot on the ground.

Northrop Grumman

(2) Capt. Michael Vanone uses a Global Hawk simulator. The right screen tracks the virtual aircraft's route, the left has readings.

Air Force