Island state interested in airborne early warning RQ-4 development to expand surveillance capabilities
Singapore received a formal briefing from the USA on the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle late last month as it looks to improve its airborne early warning (AEW) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities.
Industry sources say Singapore is interested in a Global Hawk variant modified to conduct high-altitude, long-endurance AEW and airborne ground surveillance missions, and that this could potentially include indigenous sensor and battle management systems.
Singapore currently operates four Northrop E-2C Hawkeyes on AEW missions, but has in recent years been looking at a mix of new platforms for delivery from 2007-8, including Gulfstream G550 business jets equipped with AEW and SIGINT mission systems supplied by Israel Aircraft Industries.
Sources say Singapore confidentially committed to the G550-based solution several years ago, but also seeks long-endurance UAVs to meet its future requirements, although an acquisition is not imminent.
In 2002 the country began talks with EADS on collaborating on a new medium- to high-altitude, long-endurance UAV derived from the Euromale programme as a solution to its proposed low-altitude, long-endurance UAV requirement.
But the status of this collaboration remains unclear, and Singapore has also held talks with General Atomics on systems such as the Predator. An upgraded Global Hawk modified for the AEW mission would be an ideal complement to the proposed lower-tier system, and Northrop is already working to increase the RQ-4’s payload to 1,360kg (3,000lb), which should make the modifications sought by Singapore feasible.
Securing US government approval for a Global Hawk sale is also thought possible because Singapore is not a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which restricts the sale of UAVs that could deliver weapons of mass destruction. A South Korean request for information on the Global Hawk is unlikely to be approved because Seoul has signed the MTCR agreement.
Northrop’s improved RQ-4B Global Hawk is on schedule to enter flight test from mid-2006 following the recent delivery of the aircraft’s larger vertical tails and the mating of its extended 40m (130ft) span wing. The company is producing four RQ-4Bs in Palmdale, California.
BRENDAN SOBIE/SINGAPORE
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PETER LA FRANCHI IN
Source: Flight International
