Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV has established a dominant
position in the High Altitude/ Long Endurance UAV market. While they are
not cheap, they are uniquely capable. During Operation Iraqi Freedom
(OIF), the system flew only 5% of the US Air Force’s high altitude
reconnaissance sorties, but accounted for more than 55% of the
time-sensitive targeting imagery generated to support strike missions.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk was also a leading contender in the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV competition, and eventually won.
The Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Program (GHM-D or BAMS-D)
aims to use the proven RQ-4 Global Hawk airframe as a test bed for
operational concepts and technologies that will eventually find their
way into BAMS, and contribute valuable understanding to the new field of
maritime surveillance with high-flying UAVs. It’s not just a test
program, however, as its drones also deploy to assist the fleet in
active operations.
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