AFOTEC, Det. 5 leads conclusion of first Global Hawk operational testing Published Dec. 13, 2006 By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 5 Global Hawk Test Team concluded the first-ever operational flight test of the RQ-4A Global Hawk Block-10 Unmanned Air System Nov. 17.The operational testing, which validates the developmental test work done on the Block 10 production system and Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration prototypes of the Global Hawk, tested the system in a variety of different field conditions. "Since the Global Hawk is a UAS, the ground segment is a very large part of the testing," Maj. Dave Gerhardt, Global Hawk test director with AFOTEC, Det. 5, UAV Test Division. "The ground segment includes the launch recovery element and the mission control element." The 15-month testing concluded with the Northern Sortie to Alaska to test the Global Hawk's Integrated Sensor System against cold soaked targets. The ISS consists of electro-optical, infrared cameras and synthetic aperture radar. "This is a system of systems," said Maj Roberta Nicholson, lead communications engineer for the UAV Test Division. "The ground segment controls the aircraft. Once the imagery is taken, it is transmitted via satellite to the Mission Command Element then 'pushed' to a distributed ground station where specialized imagery analysts further evaluate the images." Prior to the Northern Sortie, the team started testing in August 2005 with a Pre-Deployment Assessment, which facilitated the deployment of the first production aircraft. The team proceeded to the deployment phase in April 2006, where they sent team members to various locations worldwide to observe deployed operations in theater. The testers not only performed the operational assessment on the Global Hawk system during the Global War on Terrorism, they also went to deployed locations with the operational Army and Marine units in theater to learn how well the warfighter's needs are being met by Global Hawk products. "When these operational units go out to the field, they don't see the Global Hawk," Major Gerhardt said. "What they get is invaluable intelligence information from the imagery that Global Hawk produces." The team also flew the Global Hawk in a single flying event to the East Coast to evaluate the sensor performance in dense foliage and test the system interoperability with the ground unit with the help of the Army's 513th Military Intelligence Brigade. "It took a lot of work from a lot of people to get Global Hawk to this point," Lt. Col. Dan McDonald, AFOTEC, Det. 5, Chief of UAV Test Division. "The testing is going to provide the warfighter with a better asset that they can use in the GWOT." The team is composed of AFOTEC Det. 5, 452nd Flight Test Squadron, Global Vigilant Combined Test Force, 31st Test Squadron, the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Group in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and Northrop-Grumman Corporation. Operators from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and 480th Intelligence Group at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., were also helped in the successful accomplishment of this operational assessment "Global Hawk is the premier unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for this generation of warfighter," Major Gerhardt said. "This assessment will lay the ground work for future Global Hawk testing of Blocks 20, 30 and 40. The level of effort that went into this test was phenomenal. Our team will generate a final report that will describe the full capability of the Block 10 Global Hawk."