The U.S. Navy is expected to take delivery of its first Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle next week, a spokeswoman for prime contractor Northrop Grumman said Sept. 30.
The RQ-4A Global Hawk will be flown from a Northrop Grumman production plant in Palmdale, Calif., where the Navy will formally accept the air vehicle, to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the company spokeswoman told The DAILY.
The vehicle will undergo testing at Edwards for several months before heading to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. to prepare for a future maritime demonstration.
A second Global Hawk is also under production for the Navy demonstration and is expected to leave the Northrop Grumman plant in Palmdale in a few months.
The maritime demonstration is intended to help the Navy determine how to use UAVs for reconnaissance.
Northrop Grumman’s main customer for Global Hawk is the U.S. Air Force, which has taken delivery of 10 air vehicles and is buying 48 more.
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October 2, 2004 at 1:20 pm