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Subj:.....Global
Hawk (S536c)
From: darrell94590 on 4/25/2007
The Global
Hawk (Tier II+) High-Altitude, Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (HAE
UAV) program is an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) designed
to satisfy the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office's (DARO) goal of
providing extended reconnaissance capability to the Joint
Force commander.
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Extended reconnaissance
has been defined by the Director, DARO, MGen Kenneth Israel, as "the ability
to supply responsive and sustained data from anywhere within enemy territory,
day or night, regardless of weather, as the needs of the warfighter dictate."
Two complementary HAE UAV systems are being developed under this program;
a conventional
design (Tier II Plus)
and an Low Observable configuration (Tier III Minus).
This Global Hawk UAV
returned from Iraq on Monday under its own power. (Iraq to Edwards
AFB in CA) - Not transported via C5 or C17. Notice the mission paintings
on the fuselage. It's actually over 250 missions.
That's a long way
for a remotely-piloted aircraft. Think of the technology (and the required
quality of the data link to fly it remotely). Not only that but the
pilot controlled it from a nice warm control panel at Edwards AFB.
It has really long legs - - -it can stay up for almost 2 days at altitudes
above 60k.
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Most
people have no idea what stealth brings to the battle. Basically,
they come into the fight at a high mach thrust, start killing people way
out with AMRAAMS, and continue doing that until everyone is dead, and no
one ever sees them or paints them on radar.
Photo from FAS.org |
There is practically
no radio chatter because all the guys in the flight are tied together electronically
at Edwards AFB, and can see who is targeting who, and they have AWACS direct
input and 360°situational awareness from that and other sensors. |
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