Northrop receives another large Global Hawk contract
Air Force orders $287 million of the crash-prone UAVs; craft have played a major role in Iraq and Afghanistan
We have never been very bullish on Northop Grumman’s Global Hawk UAV, noting most recently that flights of the crash-prone craft at Beale Air Force Base in California were suspended in December after a craft briefly lost communications contact with ground control during its maiden flight. “This cannot be good news for Northrop, considering that the Global Hawk is presently competing for the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV program,” we wrote at the time. Maybe not, but at least one other service has not lost faith: the company announced last that it had received a $287 million Air Force contract for five of the craft, plus one mission control element, one launch and recovery element, four enhanced integrated sensor suites (EISS), and sustaining support.
No doubt the Air Force has some good reason to order more of the craft. Despite technical problems, in 2006 alone the craft flew more than 3,300 combat hours and took over 50,000 images in the wars against Iraq, Afghanistan, and terrorism more generally. “This award reaffirms the Air Force’s confidence in Global Hawk and our commitment in keeping the program on cost and on schedule,” said Northrop’s Jerry Madigan. The first Global Hawk under the new contract is currently in production and scheduled for delivery early next year. Work on the contract will continue through February 2009.
