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The success of drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan has battered Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Since January 2009 they have killed between 400 and 500 militants. These strikes are reported to come from unmanned aircraft (often called drones), which may lead you to believe that nobody's behind the wheel. You couldn't be more wrong. While filming "War Stories with Oliver North: High Tech Warriors on the Battlefield," which airs Sunday, April 11 at 9 p.m. on Fox News, I was given the opportunity to travel to Creech Air Force base in Nevada with Oliver North and co-producer Steven Tierney....

Deployed U-2 pilot achieves rare feat of 100 combat missions by Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs 3/15/2010 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- For Maj. William Gottenberg, he's been helping the Dragon Lady breathe a lot of fire lately. The 16-and-a-half-year Air Force veteran and pilot recently achieved 100 combat missions in the U-2 in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. "It's a good feeling because it's an awesome mission and the fact that I was able to have the opportunity to come out here enough to get the chance to get 100 is great,"...

Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) made aviation history Feb. 2 when it successfully completed its first roundtrip flight from the company's Palmdale, Calif., manufacturing facility. AF-20, a Block 30 Global Hawk built for the U.S. Air Force, performed the historic mission, soaring at altitudes of 58,300 feet for approximately four hours and 18 minutes. "This was the first time ever that the same Global Hawk has taken off and landed in a single mission from Palmdale, heralding a new era of flights in and out of the facility," said George Guerra, Northrop Grumman vice president of...

As Northrop Grumman rolls out its first Global Hawk Block 40 aircraft, the high-flying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program is facing some hurdles. The Office of the Secretary of Defense and U.S. Air Force are ironing out particulars of a delay to the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) period for the Block 20/30 Global Hawk. Industry and government sources suggest it is likely to be nine months; the original plan was to start IOT&E in August and wrap up in November. Meanwhile, House appropriators are considering a substantial cut to the program in fiscal 2010, according to a program...

The latest version of the Global Hawk unmanned spy plane, equipped with more sophisticated and capable sensors, was unveiled Thursday to great fanfare by builder Northrop Grumman Corp. and the Air Force at the manufacturing site at Air Force Plant 42. "There's a demand that continues for unmanned systems, and we feel we're leading the way," said George Guerra, Northrop Grumman vice president of High Altitude Long Endurance Systems and site manager for unmanned systems. "Global Hawk has really transformed itself since it began as an advanced development concept in the mid-1990s," he said. "I believe Global Hawk is going...

THE RAAF still aims to acquire the Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft as early as 2017. While the Rudd Government has deferred a decision to acquire the highly sophisticated aircraft, the new defence white paper is expected to outline the requirement for a high-altitude long-range surveillance platform. Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announced earlier this month that Australia would not sign up to the system design and development (SDD) phase of the US Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, which includes the Global Hawk. The RAAF plans to replace its 32-year-old fleet of Orion AP-3C maritime surveillance planes with a...

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp won a $1.16 billion contract to modify its high-altitude unmanned Global Hawk surveillance plane into a new maritime patrol aircraft, the Navy said on Tuesday. Northrop beat out Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co to win the deal, which runs through September 2014 and covers three unmanned test planes and an option for three low-rate initial production planes. The Navy plans to buy 68 Global Hawks under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program over the coming years, in a deal Navy officials said would be worth at least $3.74 billion,...

EDWARDS AFB - Ten years ago, Edwards Air Force Base witnessed the first flight of the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle. The aircraft flew for one hour at an altitude of 32,000 feet. Since then, the Global Hawk has logged more than 20,000 flight hours, of which 15,000 were flown in support of the global War on Terror. The high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system is designed to provide commanders with real-time imagery of large geographic areas. The Global Hawk can reach an altitude of up to 65,000 feet and loiter for more than 30 hours. The Global Hawk...

Aircraft is piloted by computer, set to gather intelligence from 60,000 feet The latest version of the Global Hawk robot reconnaissance plane is due in February to begin a series of development test flights. The RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 is designed to carry equipment called the Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP), which detects, identifies and locates enemy radar, radios and other types of electronic and communication signals, according to announcements last week from Edwards and Northrop Grumman. "Our developmental testing will determine how well the ASIP will collect data and locate radio frequency emitters in the battlefield," Steve Salas,...

The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq... the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January and October... The dramatic increase in the development and use of drones across the armed services reflects what will be an even more aggressive effort over the next 25 years... For some Air Force pilots, that means climbing out of the cockpit and heading to places such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where they can remotely fly the...

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has added two high-flying birds to its flock. The pair of unmanned Global Hawk aircraft, of the type used by the Air Force for reconnaissance missions, will be used to support the space agency's earth science missions. The aircraft will provide high-altitude, long-duration platforms for varied scientific experiments. "We will essentially provide a truck for scientists to put their experiments on," said Chris Naftel, Global Hawk project manager. The aircraft is designed to fly at more than 60,000 feet altitude with a flight endurance of more than 30 hours. "The beauty of the Global Hawk...

Unmanned and dangerous Dec 6th 2007 From The Economist print edition Aviation: Unmanned aerial vehicles are a vital tool of modern warfare. Once-harmless drones are now deadly attack aircraft. Where did the technology come from, and where is it going? DUSK falls over Baghdad and Kabul, and the Predators take their places in the skies overhead, ready for action. Western soldiers prefer to fight in the dark, when their night-vision gear gives them the advantage over insurgents. They know that with drone aircraft scanning the ground, with unblinking eyes able to see by day or night and radars that can...

U.S. seeks Asian partners for Global Hawk eye in sky Thu Oct 4, 2007 4:51am IST By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is proposing to share one of its most advanced reconnaissance aircraft with at least 11 countries in an effort to boost security in Asia and the Pacific. A conference tentatively planned for April in Hawaii would discuss an informal regional grouping to support the high-flying, remotely piloted Global Hawk built by Northrop Grumman, the U.S. Pacific Command said on Wednesday. "Our intent is to involve as many nations as possible in whatever capacity they want...

While Predator and Global Hawk drones cross the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan looking for insurgents or hunting for Osama bin Laden, thousands of kilometres away in Washington they have been dragged into a vicious turf battle.Resurrecting tensions over US airpower that have lingered since the Korean war, the air force is pushing to become “executive agent” for drones – unmanned aircraft – that fly above 3,500 feet. The army, navy and marines oppose the move, which would make the air force responsible for the acquisition and development of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the army’s Sky Warrior. As Gordon...

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman said the first of an improved version of the Global Hawk robot spy plane is at Edwards AFB for testing after making its maiden flight from Air Force Plant 42. With a wider wingspan and the ability to carry more sensors inside its fuselage, the first "Block 20" RQ-4 Global Hawk made its first flight March 1 , Northrop Grumman announced last week. Designated AF-8, the aircraft took off at 6:58 a.m. from Palmdale, climbed to 32,000 feet and landed at 8:31 a.m. at Edwards before a crowd of cheering Air Force officials and Northrop Grumman...

PALMDALE - The Department of Homeland Security plans to evaluate unmanned, high-altitude vehicles as a platform for a counter-missile defense system for commercial airliners in answer to the threat of shoulder-fired missiles being used to attack aircraft as they take off or land. While seeking bids for development of such a system, the department plans to conduct trials using the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Global Hawk and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator B aircraft. Both are built and tested in the Antelope Valley; Global Hawk at Northrop's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale and Predator B at General Atomics'...

Is U.S. Ostracizing Korea From Top Weapon Sale? The U.S. is refusing to sell its long-range high-altitude drone Global Hawk to Korea but not to other countries, reports have alleged. According to press reports, Washington has authorized sales of the unmanned aerial vehicle to Japan, Australia and Singapore but has opted not to sell it to Korea. According to some sources this is because it fears theft of cutting-edge technology, while others say the refusal is due to the uncomfortable state of the Korea-U.S. alliance. But a Defense Ministry official said Seoul does not see the decision as discrimination but...

Seoul seeks to buy U.S. spy planes South Korea is seeking to buy four U.S. unmanned spy planes but Washington is reluctant to sell them for fear of a possible leak of confidential technology, a Seoul official said yesterday. The Defense Ministry will ask the United States later this month to sell Global Hawk surveillance aircraft which would greatly enhance the nation's intelligence-gathering capability. "During the Security Policy Initiative session, we are planning to request the United States to permit the sale of Global Hawk," the official said requesting anonymity. The bimonthly security meeting will be held in Washington Sept....

PALMDALE - Boasting greater capabilities than its already heralded predecessor, the next-generation Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was unveiled to the public Friday. Amid flashing lights and stirring music, the large bulbous vehicle was revealed before an appreciative crowd of Northrop Grumman Corp. employees, Air Force personnel and dignitaries at the company's Palmdale Manufacturing Center at Air Force Plant 42. The center is home to the final assembly of all the Global Hawks. The event marked a celebration of "both a major milestone and a new beginning," said John Brooks, Flying at an altitude of 60,000 feet and for periods...

Rolls-Royce Eyes Oil-Less Engine, Other Innovative Propulsion Concepts Defense Daily 06/08/2006 Author: Michael Sirak INDIANAPOLIS--Rolls-Royce's LibertyWorks advanced concept shop has divulged a list of novel engine designs that it is pursuing to power the Department of Defense's next-generation missiles, unmanned surveillance aircraft, long-range strike platforms and agile transport planes, according to senior company officials. Among the concepts is a paradigm-shifting aircraft engine that uses magnetic bearings around its core. These bearings form part of the engine's integrated high-speed electrical-power generator for producing the large amounts of power needed to run the aircraft's onboard sensors and even directed-energy weapons. Equally important,...