Iran Is Trying To Rebuild The U.S. Navy’s RQ-4A Global Hawk That It Shot Down Last Year

The RQ-4A has largely been reconstructed in Iran. The kill marking painted on the door of a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system involved (bottom left) more closely resembles a U-2 spy plane however. Images from US Navy and Iranian State Media

Forbes: Shot Down U.S. Navy Global Hawk Reconstructed By Iran

Information about the U.S. Navy’s RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle shot down by Iran on June 20, 2019, continues to surface a year on. The carcass of the aircraft has been largely pieced together by Iran, in the manner of an air accident investigation. The way it was done, and the reasons, are likely to be very different, however.

The drone was reportedly shot down by an IRGC “3rd Khordad” missile. A 3rd Khordad missile launcher has been paraded by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) to celebrate the downing of the spy drone. The ‘kill marking’ painted on the door of the vehicle closely resembles the piloted U-2 spy plane instead of a Global Hawk, however.

The 3rd Khordad has a reported maximum range up to 65 miles and can hit targets flying at high altitudes. So the Global Hawk spy drone is a natural prey for a system like this.

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WNU Editor: I am willing to bet that Russian and Chinese intelligence agencies have already taken a look at this downed U.S. Navy Global Hawk.

Canada Wants To Buy Germany's Euro Hawk Drone

The first and only RQ-4E Euro Hawk at its rollout ceremony in 2009. Northrop Grumman

CBC: Transport Canada looking at used German drone to patrol Arctic

A used German drone is one of a handful of aircraft under consideration by Transport Canada for its long-delayed Arctic surveillance program.

A spokeswoman for the department said no decision has been made about the kind of remotely-piloted system the department will purchase.

Marie-Anyk Cote said the plan is to buy an aircraft to detect and monitor oil spills, survey ice levels and marine habitats and keep track of shipping and ice movement in Canada's far northern waters.

"As part of its technical assessment, the government sought information from suppliers to better understand the technology and the solutions available," Cote said in an email.

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Update: Canada Considers Buying Huge Non-Flyable Drone From Germany To Meet Arctic Patrol Needs (War Zone/The Drive)

WNU Editor: If you can buy it for cheap .... and it flies with all the instruments working and you have the parts and support from Northrop Grumman .... I say why not.

U.S. Air Force Is Revealing Only Now That An RQ-4 Global Hawk Drone Crashed Off Spain Last June

Remnants of a RQ-4 Global Hawk that was recovered on June 26, 2018 off the coast of Spain. USNI News Photo

Daily Mail: Huge $123m US Air Force drone is recovered from the Atlantic Ocean after crashing off the coast of Spain

* The RQ-4 Global Hawk plunged into the Gulf of Cadiz at 11am ET on June 26
* Officials only acknowledged crash on Thursday after two months of silence
* It's the second time one of the reconnaissance drones has crashed in a year

A huge US Air Force drone worth $123 million has been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean after crashing off the coast of Spain.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk, which has a wingspan of 131 feet, plunged into the Gulf of Cadiz at 11am ET on June 26 near the US Navy's base in Rota, some 4,500 miles away from its home base in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

US officials only acknowledged the crash to USNI News on Thursday after two months of silence. The incident is particularly embarrassing as it is the second time a Global Hawk has crashed in the last 12 months.

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Update #1: Update: U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk Drone Crashed Off Spain Last June (The Warzone/The Drive)
Update #2: Exclusive Photo: Crashed $123M RQ-4 Air Force Drone Fished Out of the Atlantic (USNI News)

WNU Editor: This drone must have been carrying some sensitive equipment for the US Air Force to keep the crash secret until now.

The Drone That The U.S. Congress Refuses To Kill

Global Hawk Drone Flies Into Budget Battle Between Pentagon, Congress -- L.A. Times

The Air Force planned to stop buying and flying the Global Hawk drone to save about $2.5 billion over five years. Lawmakers backed by the defense lobby have scuttled that and other cost-cutting efforts.

When the Air Force looked for ways to save money last year to deal with declining budgets, officials decided to halt work on a high-flying, long-endurance spy drone built in Palmdale by defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp.

At a cost of $35,000 per flying hour, the Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft had "priced itself out of the niche, in terms of taking pictures in the air," Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said at the time.

The Air Force planned to stop buying the Global Hawk and mothball 18 of those it already owned to save about $2.5 billion over five years. The high-tech drones, the military said, were not as capable as the battle-tested U-2 spy planes.

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My Comment: Just another example on the power of lobby groups and special interests in Washington.

Global Hawk: The Drone That Will Not Die

The Global Hawk has provided high-altitude, long-endurance ISR for the Air Force since the late 1990s, but the service says it no longer needs the unmanned aircraft. (Air Force)

Global Hawk: The Drone The Pentagon Couldn’t Ground -- McClatchy News/Center for Public Integrity

WASHINGTON — With billions of dollars in spending reductions looming, Air Force officials looked around last year for a program they could cut that was underperforming, had busted its budget and wasn’t vital to immediate combat needs.

Eventually, they settled on the production line for a $223 million aircraft known as the Global Hawk, with the wingspan of a tanker but no pilot in the cockpit, built to fly over vast terrain for a little more than a day while sending back data to military commanders on the ground.

“The Block 30 (version of Global Hawk) is not operationally effective,” the Pentagon’s top testing official had declared in a blunt 2011 report about the drones being assembled by Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, Calif. Canceling its production and putting recently built models into long-term storage would save $2.5 billion over five years, the service projected. Its missions could be picked up by an Air Force stalwart, the U-2 spy plane, which had room for more sensors and could fly higher.

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Update #1: The battle over Global Hawk -- Navy Times
Update #2: The Drone That Wouldn't Die: How a Defense Contractor Bested the Pentagon -- The Atlantic
Update #3: Thanks to lobby effort, flawed drone still flying despite Pentagon, White House objections -- RT

My Comment: A sobering education on how politics and influence works in Washington.

The USAF Global Hawk Cannot Do It's Job When It Rains

The Global Hawk has provided high-altitude, long-endurance ISR for the Air Force since the late 1990s, but the service says it no longer needs the unmanned aircraft. (Air Force)

Will Congress Let USAF Abandon The Global Hawk? -- Defense News

June is the start of the rainy season in the South Pacific, six months of storms that come in fast and unpredictable. And when the wind starts blowing, that takes its toll on U.S. intelligence-gathering far off in North Korea.

A substantial amount of the intel on the Hermit Kingdom comes from the three massive Global Hawk unmanned surveillance planes based at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Because of special flight restrictions, the Global Hawks can’t fly over thunderstorms, nor, without a way to see the clouds ahead, can they go around them. So whenever a hint of bad weather arose on the route Global Hawk was assigned last year from Guam, the missions were canceled. Last year, the UAVs were grounded for an entire month, says a source with knowledge of the operation.

This susceptibility to South Pacific cyclones is adding new energy to the political hurricane raging in Washington over the future of the expensive UAVs.

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My Comment: So these unmanned surveillance planes cannot work when they get wet. At $200 million a copy .... this is inexcusable.

U.S. Wants To Sell Advanced Spy Drones To South Korea

A United States Air Force Global Hawk drone, manufactured by Northrop Grumman Corp., during a media preview of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2011 in Seongnam, South Korea. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

US Moves to Sell Advanced Spy Drones To South Korea -- Voice of America

The Obama administration has formally proposed the sale of advanced spy drones to South Korea, in a push to boost the Seoul government's ability to protect itself from attacks by the heavily-militarized North.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement that it has officially notified Congress of the proposed $1.2 billion deal for four high-altitude Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft, as well as training and logistical support. Analysts say congressional approval is likely.

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More News On The U.S. Selling Advanced Spy Drones To South Korea

U.S. moves to sell advanced spy drones to South Korea -- Reuters
U.S. moves toward selling advanced spy drones to South Korea -- Washington Post
South Korea to Buy $1.2 Billion in Drones Under U.S. Plan -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Golden Hawk drone sale to S.Korea proposed -- UPI
U.S. plans to sell Global Hawks to S. Korea for US$1.2 bln -- Yonhap News Agency
S. Korean Govt. Plans to Re-evaluate Drone Purchase Early Next Year -- Arirang
U.S. Drones Too Expensive for Korea -- Chosun Ilbo

My Comment: $1.2 billion for four drones .... that is not cheap.

Global Hawk Drone Crashes In Maryland

Aan RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle conducts tests over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. On Monday, June 11, 2012 an RQ-4A aircraft on a routine training flight crashed near Bloodsworth Island, across the Chesapeake Bay from the Naval Air Station. US News and World Report

Military Global Hawk Drone Crashes In Maryland -- L.A. Times

WASHINGTON -- An unmanned Navy surveillance aircraft crashed into a marsh in southern Maryland on Monday without causing any injuries or apparent property damage on the ground, officials said.

Officials said that the Global Hawk, a high-altitude drone aircraft that normally carries sophisticated cameras and sensors, was on a test mission from the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, about 65 miles southeast of Washington, when the ground pilot lost control of the plane.

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More News On Yesterday's Military Global Hawk Drone Crashing In Maryland

Navy Loses Giant Drone in Maryland Crash -- Danger Room
Navy Unmanned Drone Crashes on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, $186 Million Burns -- ABC News
Downed Drone Could Cost Navy Nearly $200 Million -- US News and World Report
U.S. Navy drone crashes in Maryland, no injuries -- Reuters
Navy drone crashes in Maryland -- CNN
Look out below: Drone crashes on Eastern Shore -- Washington Post
US drone crashes in Maryland: Navy -- AFP
US Navy Loses Giant Drone In Crash -- Gizmodo
Navy Drone, BAMS-D, Crashes; Northrop To Unveil Newer Model On Thursday -- Aol Defense

U.S. Air Force Cancels The Global Hawk Drone Program

Air Force Cans Current Global Hawk; Funds Next-Gen Version -- Aol Defense

Pentagon and service leaders are rumored to be considering reducing or canceling the current version of the venerable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone. The Block 30 Global Hawk variant will be replaced with the Cold War-era U-2 spy planes. The decision to cut or cancel purchases of the last 10 Block 30s will be part of the Air Force's upcoming fiscal 2013 budget proposal, according to Loren Thompson, a consultant and defense analyst. But with the fate of the Block 30 variant sealed, the Air Force will reportedly move ahead with a newer variant of the aerial drone.

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More News On The Cancellation Of The Global Hawk Program

Exclusive: U.S. Air Force terminating Northrop unmanned plane -- Reuters
Pentagon to cut Air Force’s pricey Global Hawk drone program; Navy’s will continue -- Washington Post/AP
What Pacific Strategy? Pentagon Plans To Mothball Longest-Range Surveillance Drones -- Defpro
Air Force plans to ground Global Hawk plane, stop production, report says -- Springfield News
Adios Global Hawk, U-2 Will Stick Around (updated) -- Defense Tech
Pentagon to cut Air Force drone program -- CBS/AP
Report: Global Hawk to be idled; Updated U-2 spy plane will replace the UAV managed at WPAFB -- Avionics Intelligence
Pentagon May Mothball Air Force Global Hawk -- Aol Defense
Pentagon to Cut AF Global Hawk Program -- Military.com/AP
It Flies — And Dies! -- The Times

$23Billion Drone Program To Replace U-2 Spy Plane

No Wonder The US Is Broke! $23Billion Drone Program To Replace U-2 Spy Plane -- Daily Mail

The U.S. is to spend $23billion on a fleet of drone spy planes - despite facing economic turmoil and crippling debts.

Fifty-five Global Hawks are to be built over the coming years, with each aircraft costing a staggering $218 million each.

They will replace the highly-effective U-2 spy planes which were manned by pilots and played an effective role in the cold war and more recently Afghanistan.

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Update #1: Costly Drone Is Poised to Replace U-2 Spy Plane -- New York Times
Update #2: High flying drone Global Hawk to replace US' most famous U-2 spy plane -- Economic Times

My Comment: $218 million per aircraft .... that is definitely not a cheap vehicle to use for surveillance and spying.

Air Force’s Global Hawk Aerial Drone Is Not Suitable For Operations

Northrop Grumman's Q-4B Global Hawk

Pentagon Testers Slam Aerial Spy Drone As Unfit For Operations -- The Hill

The Air Force’s Global Hawk aerial drone is not suitable for operations, according to a scathing Pentagon report obtained by The Hill.

The report by the Pentagon’s top weapons tester found that the latest version of the spy plane, known as the “Block 30,” was “not operationally effective” in conducting the kinds of “near-continuous” intelligence-gathering missions envisioned in initial service plans for the unmanned aircraft.

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More News On The Global Hawk

Pentagon Says Northrop’s Global Hawk Drone Isn’t ‘Operationally Effective’ -- Bloomberg
Report: DoD Testers Slam Global Hawk -- DoD Buzz
Pentagon Says Northrop's Global Hawk Drone Isn't 'Effective' -- SFGate
Testers Find Limitations For Global Hawk -- Aviation
First Global Hawk Arrives at Its New Home in Grand Forks -- Defpro

Problems With The Global Hawk Program?

Global Hawk

Global Hawk In Tailspin, Maybe -- DoD Buzz

The Air Force’s head of acquisition is unhappy with Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk program. David Van Buren held a rare on-the-record briefing with reporters today and said he was “unhappy” with the program at least three times.

Van Buren said he was unhappy with the program’s approach and achievements on cost. He said he was unhappy with the sensors that go on the aircraft. And he said he was unhappy with the aircraft itself. Oh, and by the way, he said the program takes way too long to submit proposals. How slow can the pace be, you ask? Van Buren said it was “excruciating.”

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My Comment: I am SHOCKED!!!! A military R&D program that has problems .... who could have seen that happening.

But the sentence in this story that caught my attention was the following ....

.... Global Hawk was supposed to replace the U-2 and the Air Force wanted to retire the aircraft a few years ago. Congress forbade this, and the aide said that was a good thing.

Yup .... it appears that Congress makes a right call once in a while. As for Global Hawk .... a lot of money has already been thrown their way .... canceling the program will cause repercussions and blow-back from a lot of disgruntled politicians, Air Force types, and industry contractors.

I Guess The British Government Does Not Trust It's Own Citizens

RQ-4 Global Hawk (Photo from Wikimedia)

Superspy In The Sky Could Soon Be Patrolling Over British Cities To Search For Hidden Terror Cells -- The Daily Mail

A Top-secret US unmanned drone used to locate Al Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in Pakistan and Afghanistan could soon be patrolling over British cities to search for hidden terror cells.

The controversial move would allow MI5 and GCHQ, the Government's eavesdropping centre, to step up surveillance operations over the UK. Until now, the £23million Global Hawk aircraft has not been available for foreign sale.

However, US policy has been quietly changed and Britain is now negotiating to buy the drones. America is keen to supply them for British patrols after a string of terror plots threatening the US and its citizens.

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My Comment: From my view point .... they are going wayyyy over board on this one.

Helicopters are probably cheaper, and will be less noticeable than having a Global Hawk flying over your head. But hey .... everyone in the world is now into UAVs.

A Look At The RQ-4 Global Hawk Spy Plane

Japan is interested in the Global Hawk, but can the USA sell it? Photo: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Puts Global Hawk On Show In Japan -- Flight Global

Northrop Grumman has been making a major push in Japan for its RQ-4 Global Hawk in an effort to have procurement of such unmanned air vehicles included in the country's next five-year plan.

Japanese military and defence officials were able to see a full-scale model of the Global Hawk on display in Tokyo on 24-25 March. Japan was the last stop in an Asia-Pacific tour that also saw the Global Hawk model displayed in Australia, Hawaii, Guam and Singapore.

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More News On The RQ-4 Global Hawk

Aircraft maker pushing exports of spy drones -- AP
Unmanned Aerial Reconnaissance System plane, RQ-4 Global Hawk -- Economic Times India/AP
Cylons Taking Over Maritime Patrol -- Strategy Page
It’s Better to Share: Breaking Down UAV GCS Barriers -- Defense Industry Daily
Robo-plane Global Hawk Completes 11-hour Check Flight -- Scientific Computing

The Next Generation of Spy Plane

Watch CBS News Videos Online

From CBS:

"Early Show" Gets Exclusive Clearance into Global Hawk Spy Plane's Mission Command Center.

(CBS) "Early Show" weather anchor and features reporter Dave Price was to fly in a U-2 spy plane Thursday in the "Edge of the Earth" series.

However, before doing that, he gave viewers an inside, exclusive look into what just might be the future of U.S. espionage aviation -- the Global Hawk.

Though the U-2 still provides the most detailed photo images for intelligence gathering, the Global Hawk could one day replace the 50-year-old U-2.

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My Comment: What can I say ... the future is now.

Cost Overuns And Delivery Delays Plague The Global Hawk

Northrop Grumman / Ryan Aeronautical RQ-4 Global Hawk

Global Squawk -- Strategy Page

July 3, 2009: The U.S. Air Force is not happy with the manufacturer of the RQ-4 Global Hawk (Northrop Grumman). The unending delays are the major beef. For example, after nearly three years of delays, the first Block 40 RQ-4 was finished on June 25th. While most of the delays were with the AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar, there were problems with the RQ-4 as well. On top of that, the average price per RQ-4 went up 13 percent (from $91 million to $103 million) in the last two years. The air force ordered three Block 40 aircraft in June. These models have the highly detailed AESA radar for searching the ground (or water) in any weather. Commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan really want these Block 40 Global Hawks, and the Department of Defense has ordered the air force to clean up the management mess and get it done. The problem here is that the manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, has had problems managing this project since the beginning, and has consistently responded with more excuses than solutions.

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Update: New generation of UAVs displayed -- UPI

My Comment: Production of large numbers of Global Hawks will bring the price down .... but production and cost problems is something that a budget conscious military does not like to hear right now.

The Expansion Of The Global Hawk Program

Navy Pilots Learning To Fly Global Hawk UAV
-- ABC News

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.

In what could prove to be the first step toward creating a joint RQ-4 Unmanned Aircraft System training unit here, pilots of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron are teaching a class of Navy pilots the Global Hawk system.

The class, consisting of three active-duty P-3 Orion pilots and one civilian contractor, came about as a response to the secretary of defense’s call to maximize the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability in support of the war on terrorism.

Navy officials are looking to the Air Force to assist in expediting their pending RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment, one reason the normally five-month course is being condensed to four.

“This is the initial Navy RQ-4 class, which is on an accelerated course,” said Lt. Col. Scott Coon, 1st RS director of operations. “They are getting top priority. We bumped our regularly scheduled October class back by one month in order to fit the Navy pilots in.”

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My Comment: A sign of the times. The UAV program is on the fast track for major expansion .... expect its final size and impact to be incredible in 5 to 10 years.

An Extra Set Of Eyes To Observe Iran's Naval Forces

A Global Hawk maintenance team tows an unmanned Global Hawk aircraft at a theater in Southwest Asia. The aircraft has collected more than 96 percent of the target deck – nearly five thousand images of enemy locations, resources and personnel. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Matthews)

US Navy Global Hawk May Head To Middle East -- Defense Tech

This article first appeared in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report.

The U.S. Navy is considering deploying its first Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to an air base near Iraq to experiment with its ability to conduct maritime surveillance, according to defense officials.

Navy officials declined to discuss the exact location for a deployment. "Longer-term options for the system may include additional deployment situations -- allowing the system to demonstrate its unique persistent maritime ISR capabilities in various overseas environments," says Chuck Wagner, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command.

According to other defense officials, the Navy Global Hawk is expected to arrive at a base in the Middle East early next year, and the aircraft will be co-located with Air Force Global Hawks already at that base. Defense officials declined to identify the base, citing security issues. But it is widely known that the Air Force's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft supporting activities in Iraq and Afghanistan operate from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

The high-flying Global Hawk is capable of collecting intelligence from above 55,000 feet altitude for a day or more at a time. The Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) vehicle, one of two Block 10 Global Hawks owned by the Navy, is carrying an integrated sensor suite. These aircraft were bought to allow the Navy to experiment with using a UAV for maritime surveillance. Using various modes -- for inverse synthetic aperture radar, maritime search and target acquisition -- this sensor can conduct surveillance of surface ships. The aircraft also carries the LR100, a basic signals intelligence collector.

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My Comment: Iran's naval commanders are not going to be amused.