Northrop Grumman topped the Military Aviation category when the RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle demonstrated the myriad of possibilities and benefits that UAV technology can bring to the military sector. A dazzling year culminated in the successful completion of the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD).
With Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman has achieved a significant step forward in its drive to field a complex but practical UAV.
During the year Global Hawk took part in two important military exercises: NATO's Linked Seas 00 - in which it completed its first transatlantic flight - and the Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). In the course of the exercises the UAV achieved fully autonomous taxi, take-off, in-flight operation and landing; demonstrated the efficient use of off-the-shelf equipment, software and technology; and showed that it could perform high-altitude, long-endurance hazardous operations without putting a human pilot at risk.
Global Hawk's first transatlantic flight was carried out in May 2000 by Air Vehicle No 4, which flew non-stop from Eglin AFB, Florida, to Portugal, returning to Eglin 28hr later. During the flight the vehicle travelled up the eastern coast of the USA. En route it climbed to 51,000ft to demonstrate direct downlink of radar imagery to the US Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and to the carrier USS George Washington docked at Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia.
Source: Flight Daily News
