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Euro Hawk UAV
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Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV has gone from a developmental platform to the next generation of American aerial reconnaissance. Flying at 60,000 feet, the RQ-4’s use their advanced synthetic aperture radar and other sensors to provide high-resolution images, unaffected by clouds or similar impediments. A larger RQ-4B model has been developed, and forms the backbone of current deliveries.

The Euro Hawk project aims to produce an RQ-4B with additional capabilities in signals intelligence collection (SIGINT), to complement its native ground surveillance capabilities. Euro Hawk is a transatlantic collaboration, and its SIGINT system will provide the ability to detect and collect information from electronic intelligence (ELINT) radar emitters and communications emitters, and will be connected to ground stations that can receive and analyze the data. An MoU was signed in May 2006, followed by a firm system development contract on Jan 31/07.

System development is proceeding, and the first UAV has just rolled off the production line…

• The Euro Hawk Program & Platform [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings

The Euro Hawk Program & Platform

Will be replaced
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The “EuroHawk” is being offered to the German Air Force as a replacement signals intelligence (SIGINT) platform, and the idea appears to be catching on with NATO (via its AGS battlefield surveillance project) and in the USA as well.

The high altitude, long endurance UAVs will be used replace Germany’s ageing fleet of specially modified Atlantique ATL1 twin-turboprop SIGINT aircraft, which have been in service since 1972.

Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4B Block 20 Global Hawk is the starting point for the new system. An EADS-built SIGINT mission system will be the heart of the Euro Hawk’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system, providing stand-off capability to detect radar emitters (ELINT) and communications emitters (COMINT). The ground stations that will receive and analyze the data from Euro Hawk will also be provided by EADS. They will be similar to existing Global Hawk Block 20 stations, with an additional workstation for the SIGINT payload.

It is technically possible to control more than one Eurohawk from a single ground control station, as long as satellite bandwidth is sufficient. That will be a challenge for most militaries in the coming years – the USA included.

Northrop Grumman and EADS have established a 50-50 joint venture company in order to pursue this program. EuroHawk GmbH is based in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and acts as the national prime contractor for the German Ministry of Defence. Northrop Grumman and EADS initiated their transatlantic cooperation in August 2000, followed by a bilateral project agreement between the U.S. Air Force and the German Ministry of Defence signed in October 2001. The first phase of the project included the operation of the HALE UAV concept, the mission system integration, and the October 2003 flight demonstration program at the German Naval Base in Nordholz.

The program is currently on track for the formal unveiling in late 2009 at the firm’s Palmdale, CA manufacturing facility. First flight and delivery to Germany is planned for 2010, but will depend on certifications to fly in civilian airspace. Following successful testing and introduction in German operational service, Northrop Grumman anticipates that subsequent Euro Hawk systems will be delivered between 2016 and 2017.

Contracts and Key Events

Euro Hawk wheel-out
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Oct 8/09: Northrop Grumman and EADS Defence & Security unveil the first Euro Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in a ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, CA facility. Northrop Grumman | EADS.

July 31/09: Northrop Grumman announces that it has finished assembling Germany’s first Euro Hawk UAV at its facility in Palmdale, CA. The program is currently on track for the formal unveiling in late 2009 at the firm’s Palmdale, CA manufacturing facility.

May 5/09: Flight International reports that the Euro Hawk program is facing further delays – most of them regulatory. Northrop says it is still discussing the December 2009/January 2010 transfer flight to Edwards AFB with the US Federal Aviation Administration, which involves an unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace. A follow-on transfer flight to southern Germany is expected in mid-2010, but may be delayed if there are further setbacks involving that initial flight, or subsequent acceptance tests at Edwards AFB for the German authorities.

The proposed trans-Atlantic transfer flight will require agreements from the US, UK and German aviation authorities over the next 14 months, as well as a preliminary flight airworthiness certificate. As an added wrinkle, EADS also plans for the Eurohawk’s German ground control station to take over from Northrop once the UAV reaches northern Scotland.

RQ-4 Block 20
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Jan 31/07: The German Ministry of Defence (MoD) awards a EUR 430 million (then about $560 million) contract to EADS and Northrop Grumman joint venture Eurohawk GmbH to develop, test and support the Euro Hawk unmanned SIGINT, surveillance, and reconnaissance system. EADS release | Northrop Grumman release.

Sept 7/06: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report explains that the Euro Hawk’s delayed contract involves issues within the German government and in the U.S. export control process. The fact that it’s a mix of commercial transactions and Foreign Military Sale transactions adds to that complexity. The report quotes Edward Walby, Northrop Grumman’s head of high-altitude/long-endurance systems:

“The administrative piece of it has been extremely difficult…. This isn’t a large profit objective for Northrop Grumman, but it is a big deal to get an export of a system such as a Global Hawk under way. The next one, or the next country will be easier because you’ve gone through all of those little problems already.”

The report says that a contract is expected in October 2006. It would end up being later than that.

May 16/06: The German Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Department of Defense sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) establishing the base conditions for U.S./German cooperation on the RQ-4 Global Hawk-derivative “Euro Hawk” UAV. The government-to-government MoU is cited by EADS and Northrop Grumman as a critical step towards the Euro Hawk risk-reduction contract, which is expected in autumn of 2006. Northrop Grumman news release

November 2003: The Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance UAV completes a series of flight tests in the USA and Germany carrying an EADS electronic intelligence (ELINT) payload. Source.

Most Global Hawk UAVs are configured with SAR radars for finding ground targets, plus electro-optical and infared sensors (see examples of Global Hawk imagery). An August 2005 DID article noted that in November 2003, the Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance UAV completed a series of flight tests in the USA and Germany carrying an EADS electronic intelligence (ELINT) payload.

Additional Readings

• Northrop Grumman – RQ-4 Block 20 Global Hawk

• Northrop Grumman – Euro Hawk brochure [PDF]. Also touts the system’s potential maritime surveillance capabilities, with the right add-on equipment.

• EADS – Euro Hawk

• German BWB Procurement Agency – Wachsames Auge in der Stratosphare [in German]

• ISR Journal (Sept 5/06) – Super-sized Global Hawk revealed. Covers the RQ-4 from Block 10-40, and their planned capabilities.

• DID (Aug 30/05) – [American] Order for 10 Global Hawk UAVs Includes 5 for SIGINT Role.

• Naval Technology – Atlantique ATL3 – Maritime Patrol Aircraft, France. Includes some details regarding the Atlantique ATL1.

• EADS – Breguet Atlantic SIGINT aircraft.