High-altitude, long-endurance UAVs could be diverted from demonstration to support US Marine Corps operations
The US Department of Defense and US Navy are discussing the possibility of an immediate operational deployment of the USN’s two Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned air vehicles to support US Marine Corps operations in Iraq.
The first of the two high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs is currently scheduled to be delivered to the USN’s NAS Patuxent River, Maryland test centre in August for a maritime capability demonstration intended to run until 2009. The second vehicle is to follow in September.
If the deployment goes ahead, the USN RQ-4As would only support USMC operations in Iraq, rather than augment the USAF’s existing sole RQ-4A, which operates from the United Arab Emirates.
The USN is adding new capabilities to the RQ-4A, including an LR-100 electronic support-measures suite with 360° coverage and an inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging mode. This provides a sharper resolution of distant, moving targets, with a sweep by the LR-100 used to cue the narrow-beam ISAR scan.
The Pentagon is driving the discussions, arguing that operational needs should take precedence over the proposed maritime demonstration, given ongoing shortfalls in airborne intelligence systems.
Current USN plans call for the the Congress-mandated Global Hawk maritime demonstration (GHMD) to begin in November in support of an exercise called Trident Warrior ’05. The vehicles are also due to take part in the Joint Expeditionary Forces Exercise, starting in February 2006.
Meanwhile, the USN has moved to defend itself against industry criticisms of delays in its Broad Area Airborne Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) programme. Rear Adm Timothy Heely, programme executive officer for strike weapons and unmanned aviation, told the Unmanned Systems North America conference: “The navy is firmly committed to moving forward. BAMS has a requirements document, it has a budget.”
BAMS has been rebaselined to be delivered in fiscal year 2013, with systems development and demonstration kicking off in fiscal 2008. The USN has launched a study called the persistent unmanned maritime airborne system, which seeks industry proposals on integrating BAMS into the USN airborne surveillance fleet.
Peter La Franchi & Stephen Trimble/Baltimore
Source: Flight International
