Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance system developed for the US Air Force has clocked up more than 1,000 flight hours during its 81st flight while taking part in joint US-Australian wargames off eastern Australia.
The mission was the first in a series of flights conducted as part of Tandem Thrust, the annual joint Royal Australian Navy/U.S. Navy exercise.
During the May 10 flight, the vehicle flew for 25.2 hours and reached a maximum altitude of 63,400 feet, bringing its flight hour total to 1,071.1 hours.
During its first flight on Feb. 28, 1998, Global Hawk flew for one hour over Edwards AFB, Calif., at an altitude of 32,000 feet. Since then, the system has set world records for altitude, endurance and distance for jet-powered unmanned aircraft.
Global Hawk, a high-altitude, long-endurance system under development to provide military field commanders with high-resolution, near real-time imagery of large geographic areas, is in Australia for a series of missions to demonstrate maritime surveillance and coastal watch capabilities to the Australian government. The UAV is scheduled to make its return flight to the U.S. in early June.
Global Hawk is under development for the Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Northrop Grumman ISS’s Air Combat Systems business area is the prime contractor, with work performed at its Unmanned Systems facilities in San Diego and Palmdale, Calif.
