First Military Use Was Shortly After 9/11

An aircraft first developed to support research into High-Altitude Long-Endurance flight for DARPA is now celebrating 15 years of use in both military and civilian roles.

The Global Hawk first flew on Feb 28, 1998. Three years later, shortly after the September 11th attacks on the United States, the aircraft was first used by military in its war on terror.

AUVSI reports that the 15th anniversary of that first military use was Sunday. Mick Jaggers, vice president and manager of the Global Hawk program, said "Global hawk went to war soon after the tragic events of 9/11 and has never come home."

In those early years, Global Hawk provided pre- and post-strike data to necessary for combat evaluation.

Other milestones have included becoming the first UAV to be authorized to fly in the U.S. in 2003, and being the first autonomous aircraft to support firefighting efforts in southern California in 2007 and the first aircraft to survey damage following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, according to Northrop Grumman Corp.

In 15 years, the Global Hawk has racked up more than 200,000 hours, most of that for the the U.S. Air Force and NASA.

(Image from file)

FMI: http://www.northropgrumman.com/capabilities/globalhawk/Pages/default.aspx