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Air Force once again asks Congress to let it mothball oldest RQ-4 Global Hawk drones May 7 Members of the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron prepare to launch an RQ-4 Global Hawk at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, on Oct. 24, 2018. (Staff Sgt. Ramon A. Adelan/U.S. Air Force) WASHINGTON The Air Force will continue pushing for the retirement of its oldest Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawks, the service’s top officials said Friday, potentially setting up another fight with Congress about the future of the embattled surveillance drone. “The Air Force will continue to pursue the [fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act] RQ-4 Block 30 divestment waiver in order to repurpose the RQ-4 Block 30 funds for penetrating [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capability,” acting Air Force Secretary John Roth and Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown said in written testimony to Congress.
22nd April 2021 - 19:00 GMT | by Noemi DistefanoRSS
RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. (Photo: US Army)
The delivery of the RQ-4B Global Hawk to Japan will equip the country with intelligence gathering and threat monitoring capabilities.
The first of three Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawks for Japan completed its maiden flight on 15 April 2021 from Palmdale, California.
The HALE UAV can fly at altitudes of up to 60,000ft for more than 30 hours and it is designed to carry payloads for ISTAR operations.
In an official statement, Northrop Grumman’s Vice President and General Manager Jane Bishop said: ‘The unarmed RQ-4B Global Hawk will provide Japan with on-demand intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information supporting the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s missions of protecting borders, monitoring threats and providing humanitarian assistance in times of need.’
By JOHN VANDIVER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: February 16, 2021 STUTTGART, Germany A new fleet of long-range drones in southern Italy is mission ready, giving NATO an intelligence-gathering boost from the Arctic to western Africa, alliance officials said. The addition of five Alliance Ground Surveillance aircraft based at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily has been a decade in the making for the U.S.-led alliance. “These are among the world’s most advanced reconnaissance drones, providing world-class intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the Alliance,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. The RQ-4D unmanned aircraft, first ordered in 2012, is related to the U.S. Air Force’s Global Hawk Block 40 high-altitude and long-endurance drone, but modified to NATO specifications.