UV Online
Farnborough 2010: Diplomatic first for Euro Hawk
The Northrop Grumman/EADS RQ-4E Euro Hawk high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) signals intelligence (SIGINT) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is scheduled to make its second flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California on 22 July.
The UAV made its first flight on 29 June. Jim Kohn, Northrop Grumman's Euro Hawk programme director, told reporters at the Farnborough International Air Show, that the flight made history as the first by a foreign-owned UAV in American airspace. The German government needed to request diplomatic clearance from the US State Department to enable the Euro Hawk to make the six minute transit from Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, manufacturing facility to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, where the UAV could continue its flight in airspace controlled by the US Air Force.
EuroHawk GmbH, a 50:50 joint-venture between Northrop Grumman and EADS, will develop and deliver a demonstrator and four production standard RQ-4Es to replace Germany's Breguet Atlantic SIGINT aircraft which have been in service since 1972. The American company is responsible for the air vehicle based on the Block 20 Global Hawk while EADS will produce the SIGINT package.
During the UAV's first flight, which lasted 112 minutes, the Euro Hawk achieved a speed of 141 kt and climbed to 32,000 feet. The UAV achieved 27 of 31 set points established for the flight and only failed to achieve the remaining four because the F-16 chase plane ran low on fuel. Kohn described it as ‘good' flight with the aircraft performing exactly as expected.
The second flight is planned to last 12 hours. The airworthiness flight test programme is planned to comprise four flights to expand the RQ-4E's flight envelope a 24 hour endurance flight, and six flights to demonstrate crosswind landings at light, medium and heavy weights.
The UAV will need diplomatic clearance again in March 2011 when it is scheduled to fly to the German Air Force Test Center at Manching, Germany, where EADS will integrate the SIGINT package. In December 2011 the aircraft is expected to deploy to Schleswig-Jagel Air Base, the main operating base for the type in German service. Northrop Grumman pilots and technicians will maintain and operate the UAVs at Maching and for six months at Schleswig-Jagel before operations transition to German Air Force personnel who are now being trained on US Air Force Block 20 Global Hawks at Beale AFB, California.
By Ian Kemp, Farnborough.
Follow Shephard News on Twitter
Email this to a friend.