Global Hawk completes 2,000 missions, 30,000 hours Published April 8, 2009 By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The RQ-4 Global Hawk reached two milestones recently by completing its 30,000th flight hour and 2,000th mission. The Global Hawk performed its first flight here Feb. 28, 1998. In the past 11 years, it has been completing various missions such as test performance and payload evaluations here, and reconnaissance missions to support the Global War on Terror. The Global Hawk is able to perform missions and lasts up to 36 hours without refueling, unlike anything possible by any manned aircraft. "(These accomplishments are) amazing. If you do the math, these missions are averaging 15 hours per flight," said Jim Payne, Northrop Grumman Global Hawk flight test manager. "Most aircrafts would have a difficult time flying one 15-hour mission, and the Global Hawk averages that." The fact that the Global Hawk is piloted from the ground is a unique benefit the Global Hawk offers. "Since Global Hawk is unmanned, we don't need to worry about causalities or prisoners of war," he said. "Its communication links allow the pilot to get the data in real time and communicate that out to the warfighter." Mr. Payne said the future of flight is unmanned aircraft because they are able to infiltrate austere locations and help infantry units to stay one step ahead of their enemies. "More than just the Air Force, the Global Hawk is crucial to all military troops in the field," said Mr. Payne. "By giving them intelligence, it helps our troops avoid ambushes and see what the other side is up to." Major West said that he feels that, in his experience piloting the Global Hawk, it was an effective reconnaissance tool. "During one mission, I was able to chat with a troop on the ground," said Major Scott West, 452 Flight Test Squadron director of operations. "Those troops did not have to go searching for the enemy, the Global Hawk found them and the troops were able to turn the tables on the enemy. Nothing makes you feel better than to have a guy say 'thanks.'" The Global Hawk was selected over other unmanned aerial vehicles like RQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper to perform these reconnaissance missions because of its range, endurance and speed. "The Global Hawk can cover a much greater area of the battle space (than other UAVs,)" said Major West. "The Global Hawk has really come of age in combat. Great strides have been taken in the integration of UAVs into the operational forces. Some of the greatest strides have occurred in the disseminated intelligence collected by the Global Hawk. The Global Hawk's persistence in feeding intelligence to the combat troops conducting current and future operations is a source of great pride for the program." Since the beginning, the Global Hawk's success has come from Northrop Grumman and the Air Force working together. "This has been a huge team effort between Northrop and the Air Force," said Mr. Payne. "When we first went overseas, the company had a large involvement. Slowly it's been able to transition over to being mostly an Air Force operation over there." Mr. Payne stressed the fact that it is important to keep this one-of-a kind aircraft, from becoming part of an adversary's fleet. "The Global Hawk is a unique technology only the United States has," Mr. Payne said. "In regards to operational security, aside from our allies, we want to keep it that way. We want to prevent our enemies from developing this technology." Global Hawk recently celebrated the 11th anniversary of its first flight, and Major West said with the success of Global Hawk, one can expect many anniversaries to follow. "I am proud to be a Global Hawk pilot," the major said. "I look forward to where Global Hawk will go in the future. Here at Edwards, several unique missions are readied for testing to expand the capabilities of the Global Hawk. The story of Global Hawk is just getting started."