Northrop Grumman has firm or very likely orders for more than 150 of its Global Hawk remotely piloted reconnaissance aircraft, according to George Guerra, company vice president for high-altitude, long-endurance systems. Briefing reporters Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Guerra said the Air Force now has an approved requirement for 77 RQ-4 Global Hawks and the Navy intends to buy 68 Global Hawk-based Broad Area Maritime Surveillance aircraft. Plus, there is a NATO requirement for eight Alliance Ground Surveillance unmanned aircraft systems, and Germany already has one Eurohawk and a likely requirement for four more, he said. Beyond that, Australia is a possible Global Hawk customer, as are “various Pac Rim countries,” although not Taiwan, said Guerra. He noted that the Air Force is logging about 9,300 Global Hawk hours a year now, but that annual figure is expected to climb to 64,000 hours by 2015.
The Pentagon is considering ditching the Air Force’s plan to buy the E-7 Wedgetail as it looks to outsource the airborne target-tracking mission to space, defense officials indicated this week.