SPY PLANE UNVEILED HAWK FLEW IN IRAQ WAR.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman and the Air Force rolled out the first production version of the Global Hawk robot spy plane, prototypes of which were sent into service in Afghanistan and Iraq even though they were still undergoing tests at Edwards Air Force Base.

In a ceremony Friday at Northrop Grumman's Antelope Valley Manufacturing Center in Palmdale, civic leaders and company employees gathered for the unveiling of the aircraft, which is actually the eighth Global Hawk built.

``Iraqi Freedom validated the Air Force's confidence in the system and reinforced the need for it,'' said Col. G. Scott Coale, the Air Force's Global Hawk program director. ``That's what is exciting about the program. We haven't fielded a production aircraft yet but we are gathering feedback to make it better.''

The first seven Global Hawks were built to prove the concept of developing a high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. Some of those aircraft were pressed into combat duty, first over Afghanistan starting in late 2001 and later for the Iraq war. Of the program's 3,000 hours of flying time, over half have been combat reconnaissance missions.

Global Hawk aircraft accounted for just 2 percent of the total reconnaissance imaging missions during the Iraq war, but those aircraft provided 55 percent of the images for ``time-sensitive'' targets, including Iraqi armored vehicles and air defense weapon systems, officials said.

Controlled by computer, the Global Hawk can fly 1,200 miles, linger over its target area for 24 hours at nearly twice the altitude of a passenger jetliner, and then fly back.

The Global Hawk's radar is capable of detecting objects 100 miles away, and its cameras provide still images clear enough to identify targets as far away as 30 miles.

The first production aircraft will be flown to Edwards later this month

for check flights and for upgrades the Air Force wanted from lessons learned during the Iraqi war. Those upgrades include improved communications systems and a nose-mounted camera.

The aircraft will be delivered to its new home, Beale Air Force Base in Northern California, early next year.

``On the outside it looks similar to the others, but inside it features several upgrades to make a more robust intelligence and surveillance aircraft,'' said Scott Seymour, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and Integrated Systems' sector president.

The Air Force plans to buy 51 of the aircraft. The Navy has ordered two of the aircraft to test. There is a large potential for future sales, including for use by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Australian military and by European allies.

The very first Global Hawk produced will be sent to Germany this fall for demonstration flights using a European sensor system.

There are also plans for a mission over Central America to evaluate the aircraft's ability to detect drug smuggling. That mission, pushed back because of the deployments in the Middle East, is tentatively scheduled for early next year, said Carl O. Johnson, Northrop Grumman vice president and Global Hawk program manager.

The first Global Hawks have the ability to carry 2,000 pounds of cameras and sensors.

Northrop Grumman is working on a larger version of the aircraft that will be able to carry 3,000 pounds of equipment. The first of the larger Global Hawks is expected to be ready for flight in late 2005 or early 2006.

Of the first seven aircraft built, three have been lost in crashes.

In 1999, a Global Hawk undergoing tests at Edwards crashed when it inadvertently received a flight-termination signal from a Nevada test range.

The other two aircraft were lost in crashes during duty in Afghanistan - one in December 2001 that was caused by an improperly installed control rod and another in July due to a malfunctioning fuel nozzle.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- ran in Business section only) Northrop Grumman and the Air Force unveil the first production of the Global Hawk on Friday in a special ceremony in Palmdale.

(2 -- ran in AV and SAC editions only; color in AV only) A ceremony on Friday marks the first production model of Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk robot spy plane.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer