Northrop UAS Duo Logs 100K Combat Support Hours; Jim Culmo Comments

Two Northrop Grumman-built unmanned aircraft systems have achieved more than 100,000 flight hours combined for two separate U.S. Air Force and Navy operations.

The Air Force flew the Global Hawk fleet for more than 88 percent of the mission’s flight hours while the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance demonstrator accounted for the remaining hours, Northrop Grumman said Wednesday.

“Operating 11 miles above danger zones, Global Hawk is a strategic airborne asset with unprecedented endurance, range and persistence providing decision makers near real-time information from around the world,” said Jim Culmo, vice president of the high-altitude long endurance enterprise at Northrop Grumman.

“Global Hawk has continuously and successfully supported overseas contingency operations since its first deployment to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,” added Culmo.

Military commanders use Global Hawk’s sensor payloads to collect imagery and its radar to identify on-ground targets.