EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., 18 Dec. 2010. Euro Hawk, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the German Air Force, showcased its long endurance capability with a 30.3-hour flight over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The UAV is built by Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) and EADS Deutschland GmbH, operating through Cassidian, the defence and security division of EADS.
Posted by John McHaleEDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., 18 Dec. 2010. Euro Hawk, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the German Air Force, showcased its long endurance capability with a 30.3-hour flight over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The UAV is built by Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) and EADS Deutschland GmbH, operating through Cassidian, the defence and security division of EADS.The Euro Hawk is the first international configuration of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance UAV. Based on the Block 20 configuration, the Euro Hawk will be equipped with a signals intelligence mission system developed by Cassidian, providing standoff capability to detect electronic and communications emitters."Soaring up to 60,000 feet, the Euro Hawk performed beautifully and has logged nearly 100 total flight hours since its maiden flight approximately five months ago," says Duke Dufresne, sector vice president and general manager of the Strike and Surveillance Systems Division for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector. "This flight not only demonstrated the aircraft's endurance capability, but it also enabled the team to collect crucial communications data points.""This milestone is a significant step towards completion of the ferry flight to Germany next year," says Nicolas Chamussy, senior vice president of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Cassidian. "The aircraft will undergo additional flight testing in Germany before being delivered to the German Air Force by the end of 2011 to replace the fleet of manned Breguet Atlantic aircraft which went out of service this year.""We are very excited to soon have Euro Hawk flying over German skies and providing airborne wide-area surveillance and reconnaissance," says Neset Tuekenmez, chief executive officer of the EuroHawk GmbH. "This trans-Atlantic cooperation has been a long time coming since the effort began in August 2000 and the contract awarded in 2007."Delivery of four subsequent systems is anticipated between 2015 and 2016 following successful testing and introduction in German operational service.
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