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AUVSI: BAMS-D Global Hawk to join counter piracy campaign
The US Naval Air Systems command’s PMA-262 persistent maritime surveillance program office says that it is hoping to deploy its Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Global Hawk broad area maritime surveillance demonstrator (BAMS-D) aircraft in support of counter piracy operations off the coast of Somalia by early 2010.
A single BAMS-D aircraft is currently deployed in the Middle East in support of the US Central Command, but has been unable to deploy south along the African coast because of a lack of available communications satellite coverage.
PMA-262 program manager Capt Robert Dishman says that the USN is hopeful of being able to secure transponder space aboard a new commercial communications satellite due for launch in the next two months with this in turn allowing the BAMS-D aircraft to enter the counter-piracy campaign. “We are looking for the opportunity” he says.
A related demonstration to support monitoring of illegal immigration from Africa to Spain is currently in discussion says Dishman.
Spain has been looking at potential acquisition of an endurance unmanned air system to support monitoring of shipping between mainland Africa and the Canary Islands, as well as across the Straits of Gibraltar.
“The capability that a BAMS aircraft brings is well suited to that environment” says Dishman.
He says that Spain has expressed interest in a future acquisition of a mature BAMS capability using the US foreign military sales system and has initiated preliminary talks about a demonstration using the BAMS-D aircraft.
If that proceeds, it would most likely be carried out on an opportunity basis as the existing BAMS-D aircraft being used operationally is rotated with the second USN Global Hawk, which is based at the USN’s Patuxent River air station in southern Maryland
Dishman says that discussions are continuing with Canada about a possible demonstration, while initial talks have now been held with Singapore and Japan.
The USN intends to make the BAMS version of Global Hawk available for acquisition using FMS from after 2015.
By Peter La Franchi, Webster Field, Maryland
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