WORLD MARKET GERMAN SENSOR WORKS IN GLOBAL HAWK TEST FLIGHTS.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - A Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft logged two successful tests of a German-built intelligence sensor, keeping the program on track for tests in Europe in 2003 and opening the possibility of foreign sales of the Palmdale-built aircraft. The Air Force Aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau Systems Center, which is overseeing the
development of Global Hawk, announced two successful flight tests from
Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. on Nov. 17 and Nov. 22 with the German
high-altitude, long-endurance intelligence sensor.
``These test flights are part of ongoing risk-reduction efforts to prepare Global Hawk for deployment to Germany in spring 2003,'' said Col. Scott Coale, Air Force program director from the Aeronautical Systems Center's reconnaissance systems program office. During the missions, the sensor was able to detect radar transmissions from the Naval Air Warfare Center The Naval Air Warfare Center was a former U.S. Navy military installation located in Warminster, Pennsylvania and Ivyland, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Navy purchased the grounds to establish this facility from the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation following its bankruptcy in the at China Lake near Ridgecrest. The sensor then transmitted information to a German ground support station temporarily located at Edwards. The Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance reconnaissance aircraft being developed for the U.S. Air Force. It has attracted interest from the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard as well as from the German and Australian governments For the operations of Australia's federal government, see
Controlled by computer, the unmanned aircraft Unmanned Aircraft (UA) is a term used in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) definition of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). UA refers to the aircraft portion of the system required to operate it, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. can fly 1,200 miles, linger over Verb 1. linger over - delay dwell on hesitate, waffle, waver - pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; "Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures" its target for 24 hours Adv. 1. for 24 hours - without stopping; "she worked around the clock" around the clock, round the clock 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 tests are part of an effort to develop a German derivative of Global Hawk: a Euro Hawk. The Euro Hawk will replace the aging Breguet Atlantic aircraft Atlantic Aircraft was a US subsidiary of the Dutch Fokker Company, responsible for sales and information about Fokker imports, and eventually constructing various Fokker designs. , a manned aircraft whose crew keeps track of radar and radio transmissions, officials said. During the deployment to Germany, Global Hawk will fly three to six electronic intelligence missions from Nordholz, 60 miles northwest of Hamburg, in airspace above the North Sea, officials said. The Global Hawk is built by Northrop Grumman at its production plant at local Air Force Plant 42. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) A U.S. Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance plane gets a tow from Plant 42 at Edwards Air Force Base. Foreign allies may become buyers. U.S. Air Force |
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