RQ-4 Euro Hawk UAV Readying for Takeoff
Oct 13, 2011 11:00 EDT
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Euro Hawk formally accepted. (Oct 12/11)
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. Several years later, the Euro Hawk is flying, but isn’t ready for operations just yet…
The Euro Hawk Program & Platform
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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 aging 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 stayed on track for the formal unveiling in late 2009 at the firm’s Palmdale, CA manufacturing facility. First flight and delivery to Germany was planned for 2010, but requires certification to fly in civilian airspace. While the first flight took place in June 2010, and tests began at Edwards AFB in December 2010, project and FAA certification delays have pushed delivery to Germany back to mid-2011 and beyond.
Following successful testing and introduction into German operational service, Northrop Grumman anticipates that subsequent Euro Hawk systems will be delivered between 2016 and 2017.
Contracts and Key Events
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Oct 12/11: The Luftwaffe formally unveils the Euro Hawk as a new platform for the force, which will soon fill the gap created by the retired Breguet Atlantique 1150s. Eleven German pilots have already received training in the United States, and the Luftwaffe will now begin working with the UAV in order to verify its capabilities and set up procedures. The Euro Hawk system as a whole is expected to begin operations in summer 2012. German Bundeswehr [in German] | Der Spiegel.
July 20-21/11: Things get sorted with the FAA, and the first Euro Hawk is able to fly from Edwards AFB, CA to Manching, Germany. NGC.
July 18/11: The EuroHawk’s flight to Germany will be delayed by the FAA, apparently over weather-related issues en route from Edwards AFB, CA to Germany. It was supposed to land in Manching on July 19th, but there is now no date for approval of its flight plan. Flight International.
July 8/11: Aviation Week reports on Germany’s high-end UAV plans, beyond its planned 6 RQ-4 Euro-Hawk surveillance and SIGINT drones. The publication states that Germany is looking to buy 4 UAVs for wide-area surveillance, probably more RQ-4 variants, in order to complement NATO’s 6 RQ-4B Block 40 AGS drones. They’re also looking at fielding 16 systems of MALE drones over the next decade, to replace the current Heron UAV lease, and are even considering unmanned combat aircraft (UCAV).
March 10-11/11: A Euro Hawk test aircraft is hung up in an anechoic chamber for electromagnetic interference testing, at the Edwards AFB Benefield Anechoic Facility, after a specific request from the German Ministry of Defence.
NGC Euro Hawk System Engineering manager Daniel Suh sums up the issue: “In highly populated areas there are more [electro-magetic] emitters [of all types] so there’s risk associated in flying an unmanned aircraft in those environments.” The BAF testing is designed to duplicate and test those risks. Edwards AFB.
Dec 1-2/10: A Euro Hawk UAV flies for 30.3 hours from Edwards AFB, CA, soaring up to 60,000 feet. The Euro Hawk has now logged over 100 flight hours.
The Euro Hawk aircraft will undergo additional flight testing in Germany before being delivered to the German Air Force by the end of 2011, and delivery of 4 subsequent systems is anticipated between 2015 and 2016, following successful testing and introduction in German operational service. Northrop Grumman.
June 29/10: The Euro Hawk successfully completes its 1st flight, taking off from Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, CA, manufacturing facility and landing nearly 2 hours later at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. Northrop Grumman.
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.
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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 infrared 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.
