Contract Valued At $306 Million For RQ-4 HALE Aircraft Services

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $306 million contract to continue logistics and sustainment services on the high altitude, long endurance (HALE) RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted autonomous unmanned aircraft intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system.

This contract comes on the heels of Global Hawk winning the Dr. James G. Roche Sustainment Excellence Award for the second year in a row.

The new agreement continues an existing contract for Global Hawk maintenance, inventory management, parts procurement and other tasks necessary to ensure the availability of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system. This includes the aircraft as well as mission control elements and forward operating location support.

"In a turbulent world, Global Hawk's unparalleled reliability has made it an indispensable asset to the U.S. Air Force," said Mick Jaggers, director, Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "Our team takes great pride in supporting the warfighter with an aircraft system that is ready and available whenever and wherever it's needed. We look forward to continuing this relationship with the Air Force."

Northrop Grumman's HALE unmanned aircraft series have exceeded more than 130,000 total flight hours supporting diverse global missions. Carrying a variety of ISR sensor payloads, Global Hawk supports antiterrorism, antipiracy, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, airborne communications and information-sharing missions.

(USAF Image)

FMI: www.northropgrumman.com