The aerospace giant said in a statement that it had dubbed its test bed "Head Start" and would demonstrate the capabilities of its Global Hawk UAV to monitor wide areas of sea for potential targets and threats, including submarines.

The project is part of the run-up to the contract for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program, which will give naval units a persistent reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence capability.

The expectation is that BAMS would be able to detect and identify objects on the surface, including not only missile-armed ships and small boats but also items as small as a sub periscope peeking above the waves. The use of an unmanned aerial vehicle such as the RQ-4N Global Hawk would provide a platform that can remain aloft longer than a manned patrol plane and also cover areas beyond normal radar range.

Head Start involves equipping a Gulfstream II business jet with the radar gear that Northrop would use as part of its BAMS offering. Northrop will use the aircraft as a test bed for end-to-end evaluation of the communications capabilities and interaction with a ground station located in southern Maryland.

"Our principal objective with Head Start is to deliver to the Navy the lowest risk and most cost-effective program," said Northrop Vice President Carl Johnson. "This approach creates a significant program schedule margin, which ensures an initial operation capability well ahead of threshold requirements."