Northrop Grumman Corporation‘s autonomous Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) surpassed 200,000 flight hours, reinforcing its status as the most effective high altitude, long endurance intelligence gathering aircraft in the world.
The U.S. Air Force’s Global Hawks logged 88 percent of the 200,000 flight hours with the remaining hours flown by NASA Global Hawks, Germany’s Full Scale Demonstrator and the Navy’s broad area maritime surveillance aircraft systems.
Global Hawks operate at altitudes up to 60,000 feet for more than 30 hours, surveying thousands of square miles on a single mission. Global Hawk carries a variety of sensor payloads that allow military commanders to gather near real-time imagery and use radar to detect moving or stationary targets on the ground. The system also provides airborne communications and information sharing capabilities to military units in harsh environments. Read more
Source: www.uasvision.com
