GLOBAL HAWK TO HEAD FOR AUSTRALIA FOR TESTS UNMANNED AIRCRAFT EXPECTED TO SET RECORD IN ITS JOURNEY ACROSS PACIFIC.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Global Hawk will make a record-setting flight Sunday when the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft flies 8,200 miles across the Pacific Ocean to take part in a military exercise in Australia.

Global Hawk, which made a journey across the Atlantic last year, will become the first unmanned aircraft to fly across the Pacific. The aircraft is scheduled to leave Edwards 4:46 a.m. for a 22.5-hour nonstop trip to Edinburgh Air Force Base near the southern coast of Australia.

The airplane will be in Australia for two months.

``We've very excited about it,'' said Air Commodore Graham Bentley of the Royal Australian Air Force. ``It's a chance to work with leading-edge technology.''

Shorter in length than an F-16 fighter, the Global Hawk has a wingspan of 116 feet, 22 feet longer than a Boeing 737. The aircraft is designed to fly as high as 65,000 feet and stay there for long periods of time - 30 hours or more.

In 24 hours, the aircraft can survey an area of 40,000 square miles - about twice the size of the island of Tasmania.

While in Australia, the Global Hawk will make about a dozen flights. The first couple of flights will be shakedown flights to get the Australian pilots familiar with the Global Hawk.

Five flights will be conducted to support Tandem Thrust, a military exercise conducted jointly by the United States and Australia.

``Global Hawk will provide commanders with near real-time imagery of the enemy, or in this case, make-believe enemy,'' Bentley said.

The rest of the flights will be to see how well Global Hawk can handle the job of providing maritime surveillance - the mission the Australians envision for the aircraft in peacetime.

The Australians want the aircraft to help them watch the ocean for drug smugglers, illegal fishing, and vessels trying to transport illegal immigrants to their shores. The Global Hawk would be part of an overall system that uses P-3 Orion aircraft, small coast-watch airplanes, and a ground-based radar network to watch over the ocean and the Australian coast.

Australia is a partner in the development of Global Hawk, committing the equivalent of about $15 million to the program. To make the aircraft more suitable for their needs, the Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organization made improvements to the Global Hawk's sensors to enhance its ability to spot, identify and track moving objects on the ocean.

``We're excited about this in Australia, including the general public'' said Rod Smith, Global Hawk program manager for Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organization. ``It's a chance to get experience with the premier aerospace vehicle.''

A crucial aspect of the flight testing in Australia will be the tempo of operations - how quickly a potential target can be identified and the Global Hawk ordered to track it.

``We're talking about doing it in a couple of minutes,'' Smith said.

The U.S. Navy is also interested in the maritime surveillance capability, and in using the plane in conjunction with a modified Boeing 767 to handle the submarine-hunting job now handled by the P-3 Orion, said Bob Ettinger, manager of flight test for Global Hawk for Northrop Grumman, the aircraft's prime contractor.

There is also a potential for Global Hawk to be used for the electronic signal eavesdropping mission being carried out by aircraft like the EP-3E that was recently forced to land in China.

``You can do that mission with an unmanned aircraft and not worry about a Gary Powers (a U.S. pilot held prisoner for two years after his spy plane was shot down in 1960 over the then-U.S.S.R.) and being paraded around,'' Ettinger said.

The U.S. Air Force hasn't determined exactly how many of the Global Hawk aircraft it would like to have, but planners for the service have looked at a fleet with as many as 60 airplanes.

Northrop Grumman assembles Global Hawk aircraft at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.

The success of the program could lead to other unmanned aircraft in both military and civilian roles. One possibility is using unmanned aircraft to take over the role of delivering mail and packages, Ettinger said.

``If we do this Global Hawk program right, we will change the face of aviation,'' Ettinger said. ``There will be a lot more unmanned aircraft out there.''

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Box: (ran in SAC edition only) The Global Hawk

SOURCES: Northrop Grumman Corp.; Australian Department of Defense

Associated Press