NORTHROP TESTS GLOBAL HAWK.

Byline: Daily News

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced it has started construction of its X-47B Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems aircraft, a surveillance attack and aircraft intended to operate from and bases and aircraft carriers.

Production is taking place in the St. Louis, Mo., manufacturing facility of Northrop Grumman's teammate, GKN Aerospace.

GKN is responsible for both the design and fabrication of the X-47B's forward fuselage. Final assembly of the first X-47B will begin this summer at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale facility.

A joint project by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force and the Navy, the aircraft will be tested to determine the technical feasibility and operational utility of a pilotless ``stealthy'' surveillance and attack aircraft.

The X-47B is designed to use precision-guided missiles and bombs in attacking ground targets in all types of weather, and to refuel in flight. The military is interested in unmanned aircraft for dangerous missions, such as attacking enemy anti-aircraft missile sites, or long boring ones, such as flying aerial surveillance for hours.

Northrop Grumman's J-UCAS program is led by the company's Integrated Systems sector. Other major industry teammates include Lockheed Martin Corporation and Pratt & Whitney

GKN Aerospace specializes in the supply of lightweight-metallic and high-performance composite structures and other equipment, and engineering services to aircraft manufacturers.

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(color) Northrop Grumman's second Global Hawk Maritime Demonstrator made its first flight from Palmdale on June 7, heading for a landing at Edwards AFB.

Northrop Grumman