Elizabeth Leigh
Northrop Grumman has received Milestone C approval for the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system it built for the U.S. Air Force.
The approval from the Milestone Decision Authority is part of the Defense Department‘s acquisition process and paves the way for the Global Hawk to move into the production phase, the company said Tuesday.
“The most important date in any acquisition program is the day you get a new and needed capability into our warfighter’s hands,” said Mick Jaggers, program director for the Global Hawk at Northrop.
“In working with the Air Force, we seek to fly a variety of additional payloads within size, weight, power and communication parameters.”
Orbital ATK, L-3 Communications and Raytheon are among Northrop’s industry partners that helped develop the unmanned surveillance aircraft.
The UAS has been used in missions such as disaster relief, antiterrorism and data sharing efforts.
