3. Introduction
• The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance aircraft.
• It can survey as much as 40,000 square miles
(100,000 km2) of terrain a day.
• The Global Hawk is operated by the United States Air
Force and U.S. Navy.
• It is used as a high-altitude platform for surveillance
and security.
• The U.S. Navy has developed the Global Hawk into
the MQ-4C Triton version for maritime surveillance.
5. Development
• The Global Hawk took its first flight on 28 February 1998.
• The first seven aircraft were built under the Advanced
Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program,
sponsored by DARPA.
• Nine production Block 10 aircraft, sometimes referred to as
RQ-4A, were produced; of these, two were sold to the US
Navy and an additional two were deployed to Iraq to support
operations there.
• First flight of the Block 20 from the USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale,
California to Edwards Air Force Base took place on 1 March
2007.
• Developmental testing of Block 20 took place in 2008.
7. EuroHawk
• The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) ordered a variant of the
RQ-4B, to be equipped with a customized sensor suit
designated EuroHawk.
• The aircraft was based on the RQ-4B Block 20/30/40 and
was to be equipped with an EADS-built SIGINT package.
• The EuroHawk was officially rolled out on 8 October 2009
and its first flight took place on 29 June 2010.
• On 8 August 2013, the EuroHawk set an endurance record
by flying continuously in European airspace for 25.3 hours,
reaching an altitude of 58,600 feet (17,900 m).
• It was the longest flight by an unrefueled UAS weighing
more than 30,000 lb (14,000 kg) in European skies.
9. Design
• The Global Hawk UAV system comprises the RQ-4 air vehicle, which is
outfitted with various equipment such as sensor packages and
communication systems.
• A ground element consisting of a Launch and Recovery Element (LRE),
and a Mission Control Element (MCE) with ground communications
equipment.
• Each RQ-4 air vehicle is powered by an Allison Rolls-
Royce AE3007H turbofan engine with 7,050 lbf (31.4 kN) thrust, and
carries a payload of 2,000 pounds (910 kilograms).
• The fuselage comprises an aluminum, semi-monocoque construction;
the wings are made of lightweight high-strength composite materials.