The Northrop Grumman-built Alliance Ground Surveillance unmanned aerial aircraft is capable of flying for up to 30 hours at a time at high-altitudes, making the aircraft ideal for surveillance operations. Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
PALMDALE, Calif., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Northrop Grumman and NATO officials conducted and completed a flight test for the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Aircraft.
The unmanned aerial vehicle is a derivative of the Global Hawk, and is able to fly for up to 30 hours at high altitudes. The aircraft is designed to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to support a variety of NATO missions, including ground troop and civilian protection, border control, maritime patrol, and humanitarian aid.
"The NATO AGS aircraft is part of a system that will allow NATO to meet the requirements of emerging situations around the world. The program will provide unprecedented flexibility and intelligence to the Alliance," NAGSMA general manager Jim Edge said in a statement. "I couldn't be prouder of the multi-national team's hard work and dedication coming to fruition with today's first flight."
The AGS is equipped with a Multi-Platform Radar Technology insertion Program sensor, assisting the aircraft with providing close to real-time surveillance data to commanders during operations. NATO operators will be able to use the system to fuse sensor data to be able to continuously detect and track moving targets.
Northrop Grumman officials called the first flight test of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance aircraft a success, hailing the event as an important milestone in the program.
"NATO AGS's successful initial flight kicks off the program's flight test program and represents Northrop Grumman's commitment to advanced airworthy systems for the Alliance," Northrop Grumman NATO AGS deputy program manager Rob Sheehan said.
Once operational, NATO AGS will be based in Sigonella, Italy. 15 NATO nations have plans to procure the aircraft once completed.
