By B.C. Kessner
Two Northrop Grumman [NOC] Block 20 Global Hawks are under contract for modifications to carry BACN communications relay suites into combat as early as next fall, offering more good news from the successful family of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that some recently have targeted for funding cuts, company executives said.
“What we’re seeing with BACN [pronounced ‘bacon’ for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node] and with the Block 30s will raise the importance and really add to the debate on requirements…and the urgent needs,” George Guerra, vice president for HALE systems at Northrop Grumman, told Defense Daily last week during an interview at the Air Force Association annual symposium at National Harbor.
Block 30 Global Hawks are coming down the production line, with three or four of the SIGINT-equipped aircraft headed for Guam next summer and another three or four bound for Sigonella, Italy next fall.
Where the Block 30s lean toward ISR missions, the BACN aircraft are designed to provide communications relay and ‘translator’ functionality–patching together voice and data users on different frequency bands if required. BACN, which also flies aboard Air Force Bombardier BD-700 jets, is seen as one important remedy for communications problems plaguing forces in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan.
While these variants bring important capabilities to ongoing operations, the Block 40 Global Hawks–the same ones the House version of the FY ’10 Defense Appropriations Bill threatens with deferring production to the out years–might have the sharpest tool for today’s fight.
“Right now, the biggest shortage of intelligence in Afghanistan is GMTI (ground movement target indicator) and Global Hawk can provide a lot of GMTI,” Ed Walby, business development director for Northrop Grumman HALE systems, told Defense Daily.
The Block 40s are slated to be the first Global Hawks fitted with Northrop Grumman and Raytheon‘s [RTN] multi-platform radar technology insertion program (MP-RTIP) sensor, Jeffrey McConnell, Raytheon’s business development manager for ISR systems, said. This sensor package could provide broad area GMTI and interleaved synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities, he added.
Guerra said the decision of the House would essentially have Northrop Grumman and its 335 suppliers develop and build six Block 40s, then shut everything down for two years. “It doesn’t make much sense…and there would be a big economic impact on industry, with many of the smaller suppliers going out of business.”
However, the warfighters know what they want and they have spoken up well, Guerra said. “The Senate supports the president’s budget that keeps the Block 40s intact…and we have the Joint Staff on board.”
In the meantime, as the budgets get sorted out, Northrop Grumman is hoping every Global Hawk development proves an opportunity to raise awareness and helps steer the debate in its favor. It appears there will be several such opportunities.
The first of four Euro Hawk being built for Germany will be rolled out Oct. 8. Its first flight is scheduled for early next year and it will make its way from Edwards AFB, Calif., to Germany next summer. While Germany is providing its own payload on the Euro Hawk, there is a possibility that it will order up to an additional four of the platforms.
Also, NATO plans to buy up to eight Block 40s with MP-RTIP. The last member of a 15-nation consortium just signed on and the alliance is expected to announce its plans to buy the Global Hawks within the next month, Walby said.
Additionally, first flight is approaching for a refurbished Block 0 Global Hawk, one of the original ACTD birds that will be shared by NASA and Northrop Grumman. NASA plans to use the UAS for earth-science missions and NOAA is looking at ways of using the platform to watch hurricane development.
Walby said Northrop Grumman would be done by the end of the year stripping systems out of the two Block 20 aircraft that were diverted to fill the urgent BACN requirement, and that they would be quickly integrated and flying in preparation for deployment about a year from now.