Global Hawk set to soar over Pax

Posted on: Sep. 29th, 2005 || Source: dcmilitary.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Global Hawk set to soar over Pax

Not many people get to travel 60,000 feet above the Earth. It's a dangerous proposition. Aviators must wear special space suits or be in pressurized cockpits less their blood boil as they succumb to rapid decompression. Most aircraft can't operate that high anyway, and the ones that do face endurance limitations -- both of their fuel and their pilots. Arguably the most famous aircraft to fly at these heights are the U-2 and the SR-71.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk endeavors to go where few aviators or aircraft have ever gone, much less loitered. But there aren't any aviators flying the Global Hawk. It's an unmanned aerial system the Navy is testing to help develop future unmanned surveillance systems that can safely loiter high above hostile airspace without humans aboard who need protection from the hostile environment outside the aircraft -- protection that adds weight and complexity.

To demonstrate these capabilities to those who are unfamiliar with them and who come from a culture built around piloted platforms, NAVAIR's Unmanned Aerial Vehicles program (PMA-263) is gearing up for the arrival of the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Syetem to support the development of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance unmanned aerial system, said Capt. Paul Morgan, PMA-263 program manager.

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