fganger
09-29-2006, 07:04 AM
A good friend of mine sent this to me and I thought I would pass it along. Pretty neat, I’d say. This may just be the ultimate toy for our Dallera – who knows? He included a couple of items on the UAV.
Frank
A pic of the Global Hawk UAV that returned from the war zone on Monday under its own power. (Iraq to Edwards AFB in CA) Not transported via C5 or C17. Notice the mission paintings on the fuselage. It's actually over 250 missions (& I would suppose 25 air medals).
That's a long way for a remotely-piloted aircraft. Think of the technology (& the req'd quality of the data link to fly it remotely). Not only that, but the pilot controlled it from a nice warm control panel at Edwards AFB.
Global Hawk ..
I worked on Global Hawk several years ago during it's OT&E out of Edwards. It has really long legs - can stay up for almost 2 days at altitudes above 60k. They flew it via satellite control to Australia, & we flew missions during OT&E that went from Eddy to upper Alaska & back non-stop.
I also got the chance to work as pilot debriefer & test evaluator on the FA-22 OT&E summer before last at EDW. I was totally blown away by the airplane. Unless you have ever watched them go 2 or 4 V many on the big electronic game board, you have no idea what stealth brings to the battle. Basically, they come into the fight at a high mach # in mil thrust, start killing people way out w/AMRAAMS, & continue doing that until everyone is dead, & no one ever sees them or paints them on radar. There is practically no radio chatter because all the guys in the flight are tied together electronically, & can see who is targeting who, & they have AWACS direct input & 360° situational awareness from that & other sensors. The aggressors had a morale problem before it was all over. The only shots that I ever saw taken on a 22 were when someone screwed up & popped up high enough to leave a contrail. I went in a skeptic & came out a true believer. It is to air superiority what the jet engine was to aviation.
Northrop unveils new Global Hawk
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PALMDALE, Calif. - The first production model of the latest version of the $28 million Global Hawk unmanned aircraft was unveiled Friday at a Northrop Grumman plant in California, an Air Force official said.
The Block 20 series of the Global Hawk, also known as the RQ-4B, can carry a 3,000-pound payload, or double the weight of the earlier Block 10 model, said Randy Brown, director of the Air Force's 303rd Aeronautical Systems Group.
The swaybacked, bulbous-headed plane has a 131-foot wingspan. It is designed to fly without a human pilot at high altitude, roam for 10,000 miles and stay in the air for 40 hours at a time.
The Air Force contracted for six of the Block 20 aircraft. Two more-advanced versions - the Block 30 and Block 40 - are also in development, Brown said.
Global Hawks have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are among a series of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which include the Predator drone, developed to extend battlefield surveillance while reducing pilot casualties.
Some work will be done at the Moss Point plant, but final assembly of the aircraft will be performed at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., plant.
Brown said other branches of the U.S. military services as well as some foreign countries have expressed interest in the Global Hawk.
"We've orders all the way out to 2013," he said.
https://fganger.smugmug.com/gallery/1780975/2/98686446
Frank
A pic of the Global Hawk UAV that returned from the war zone on Monday under its own power. (Iraq to Edwards AFB in CA) Not transported via C5 or C17. Notice the mission paintings on the fuselage. It's actually over 250 missions (& I would suppose 25 air medals).
That's a long way for a remotely-piloted aircraft. Think of the technology (& the req'd quality of the data link to fly it remotely). Not only that, but the pilot controlled it from a nice warm control panel at Edwards AFB.
Global Hawk ..
I worked on Global Hawk several years ago during it's OT&E out of Edwards. It has really long legs - can stay up for almost 2 days at altitudes above 60k. They flew it via satellite control to Australia, & we flew missions during OT&E that went from Eddy to upper Alaska & back non-stop.
I also got the chance to work as pilot debriefer & test evaluator on the FA-22 OT&E summer before last at EDW. I was totally blown away by the airplane. Unless you have ever watched them go 2 or 4 V many on the big electronic game board, you have no idea what stealth brings to the battle. Basically, they come into the fight at a high mach # in mil thrust, start killing people way out w/AMRAAMS, & continue doing that until everyone is dead, & no one ever sees them or paints them on radar. There is practically no radio chatter because all the guys in the flight are tied together electronically, & can see who is targeting who, & they have AWACS direct input & 360° situational awareness from that & other sensors. The aggressors had a morale problem before it was all over. The only shots that I ever saw taken on a 22 were when someone screwed up & popped up high enough to leave a contrail. I went in a skeptic & came out a true believer. It is to air superiority what the jet engine was to aviation.
Northrop unveils new Global Hawk
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PALMDALE, Calif. - The first production model of the latest version of the $28 million Global Hawk unmanned aircraft was unveiled Friday at a Northrop Grumman plant in California, an Air Force official said.
The Block 20 series of the Global Hawk, also known as the RQ-4B, can carry a 3,000-pound payload, or double the weight of the earlier Block 10 model, said Randy Brown, director of the Air Force's 303rd Aeronautical Systems Group.
The swaybacked, bulbous-headed plane has a 131-foot wingspan. It is designed to fly without a human pilot at high altitude, roam for 10,000 miles and stay in the air for 40 hours at a time.
The Air Force contracted for six of the Block 20 aircraft. Two more-advanced versions - the Block 30 and Block 40 - are also in development, Brown said.
Global Hawks have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are among a series of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which include the Predator drone, developed to extend battlefield surveillance while reducing pilot casualties.
Some work will be done at the Moss Point plant, but final assembly of the aircraft will be performed at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., plant.
Brown said other branches of the U.S. military services as well as some foreign countries have expressed interest in the Global Hawk.
"We've orders all the way out to 2013," he said.
https://fganger.smugmug.com/gallery/1780975/2/98686446