SAN DIEGO, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A $114 million advance procurement contract has been given to Northrop Grumman by the U.S. Air Force in preparation for building three RQ-4 Global Hawks.
The contract for lead item parts and materials for three of the unmanned aircraft systems also covers enhanced integrated sensor suites, airborne signals intelligence payloads -- including two retrofit signals intelligence payload kits for previously purchased aircraft.
"Global Hawk's ability to fly more than 30 hours at high altitudes while gathering multiple types of intelligence data makes it extremely valuable to field commanders who need near real-time information," said George Guerra, Northrop Grumman's vice president for Global Hawk UAS. "This award is especially important because it reaffirms the Air Force's commitment to this safe and cost-effective system, which has been supporting our warfighters for more than 15 years in the U.S. and abroad."
Northrop said work under the new contract is expected to be completed in 2015.
RQ-4 Global Hawks have logged more than 100,000 flight hours and been used over battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. It has also supported intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance efforts following earthquakes in Haiti and Japan.
