Ten years after Global Hawk’s first non-stop international flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California to RAAF Edinburgh near Adelaide, Northrop Grumman will feature a full-scale, reconfigurable Global Hawk in the outside display area at the Australian International Air Show which opens today at Avalon near Geelong, Victoria.
“The Australian Air Show provides an excellent opportunity for Northrop Grumman to meet with the Australian Defence Force, regional customers, and partners to discuss how best to respond to current and emerging needs,” said John Brooks, president of Northrop Grumman International Inc. and vice president of business development for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “Our ISR and security capabilities across the company are well matched to meeting the region’s growing defence and security requirements.”
Northrop Grumman’s airborne surveillance capability will be highlighted with models of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS), the lighter than air Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) and Fire Scout, the vertical unmanned aircraft system (VUAS) multi-role UAV on display.
“BAMS, based on our proven Global Hawk platform, is ideal for Australia. It’s a transformational capability that has the speed and endurance to watch over Australia’s vast land and maritime jurisdictions. Global Hawk would also make an ideal national security asset, performing a wide array of civilian roles, such as response to natural disasters, bushfires, environmental monitoring and drug interdiction in addition to its very considerable military tasking,” said Brooks.
The MQ-4C BAMS UAS, which recently completed its Critical Design Review, is based on a maritime derivative of the combat-proven RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft with sensors, and is a multi-mission maritime ISR system that will provide a continuous on-station presence while conducting open-ocean and littoral surveillance of targets. Construction of the first BAMS UAS aircraft began in September 2010.
Northrop Grumman has well-established relationships with Australia and other countries in the region, where it has been supporting a variety of both defence and civil programmes for more than 20 years.