During the multi-national Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise,
the RQ-4 Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration system flew four
successful maritime surveillance missions to demonstrate the
system's capabilities from identifying targets in a coastal, or
littoral, environment to wide area maritime search, tracking and
identification.
As part of the RIMPAC exercise -- conducted in late July in the
Pacific Ocean around Hawaii -- the US Navy operated one of its two
Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) air vehicles from Edwards
Air Force Base, CA to Hawaii for each mission flown. Equipped with
sensors carrying new maritime software modes, GHMD captured images
of various RIMPAC activities, including a ship-sinking exercise,
expanded maritime interdiction operations, and wide-area search and
surveillance to locate target vessels at sea.
GHMD flew more than
2,500 miles each way for a total of more than 100 flight hours and
provided more than 8 hours on-station time during each mission.
"We directed the GHMD system to perform a series of different
missions during the exercise and it provided the near-real-time
persistent maritime/littoral surveillance data right when we needed
it," commented Commander Robert Proano, the US Navy's Third Fleet
coordinator for the RIMPAC exercise.
"This is the second exercise in the last 12 months to
successfully demonstrate Global Hawk's ability to provide
long-dwell, accurate maritime surveillance over both the open ocean
and littoral waters," said Jerry Madigan, vice president of
Northrop Grumman's high altitude, long endurance systems. "Global
Hawk's ability to clearly identify and track target vessels in
various sea states from 12 miles above the ocean's surface will
extend the Navy's reach to protect Navy battle groups, US
territories and defend against intruders."
Global Hawk's role as a flexible interoperable surveillance
asset was successfully demonstrated when the air vehicle flew back
over land and operators were able to switch its sensors easily from
their maritime modes to the over-land modes.
Global Hawk flies autonomously at an altitude of at least 60,000
feet for more than 35 hours, depending on the mission. During a
single mission, Global Hawk can travel more than 10,000 nautical
miles from its takeoff location, and it provides detailed
image-based intelligence on 40,000 square miles, an area
approximately the size of Illinois.
In addition to on-going testing for the US Navy and other
services, production Global Hawks are employed in-theater today
supporting the global war on terrorism.
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