Early Operations

Sea Power, May 2006 by Goodman, Glenn W Jr

Navy Global Hawks may be sent to the Persian Gulf for surveillance missions

A Precursor for BAMS

The service now has two unmanned planes for use as concept development models for its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) aircraft, scheduled for production in 2011.

* One Navy Global Hawk was scheduled for an April experiment, conveying intelligence data to Northern Command and the Department of Homeland security.

* The BAMS winner will be selected in 2007.

Northrop Grumman Corp. is in discussions with the Navy over sending one or both of the service's Global Hawk long-range, high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on operational deployments to the Persian Gulf region for surveillance missions.

Two RQ-4A Global Hawks have been delivered to the Navy to assist in the development of operational concepts and tactics for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV the Navy plans to produce beginning in 2011.

If approved, the Navy Global Hawks would be deployed in a manner similar to the way the Air Force successfully deployed its concept-development Global Hawks well ahead of production orders, according to Rick Ludwig, Northrop Grumman's director of business development for unmanned systems.

The first of the Navy's Global Hawks arrived at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., March 28. Before moving, the first Navy Global Hawk (N-1) flew more than 200 hours beginning in October 2004 from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. After validating the performance of radar sensor modifications for maritime roles, N-1 supported a number of tests and training exercises for the Air Force to free up that service's Global Hawks for overseas missions.

Late last year, N-1 participated in the Navy's "Trident Warrior '05 " exercise. Flying off the West Coast, N-1 relayed images it collected of ships in the Pacific Ocean to Navy command ships in the Atlantic.

It was set to fly off the East Coast under control of Navy operators at Edwards as part of the homeland security portion of the Air Force-run "Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2006" held April 18-29. The UAV was to be tasked to provide persistent maritime domain awareness of open-ocean and littoral areas, including ports, with its imagery disseminated for the first time to Department of Homeland security cells and U.S. Northern Command.

The second Navy Global Hawk was at Edwards Air Force Base in April undergoing integration of its sensor payload.

It may also participate off the West Coast in the "Trident Warrior 2006 Rim of the Pacific" exercise run by Third Fleet from Hawaii in June and July before settling in at Patuxent River.

The planned BAMS UAV will provide a persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability for the fleet, performing wide-area monitoring of open ocean areas. The UAV will be an adjunct to the Navy's manned maritime patrol aircraft, which are shifting to a persistent antisubmarine warfare role along the littorals.

Beginning in fiscal year 2013, the service's aging propeller-driven P-3C Orion submarine hunter is slated for replacement by the P-8A Multimission Maritime Aircraft, a modified Boeing 737 commercial jet.

The two primary BAMS competitors are expected to be the Global Hawk, which flies at 60,000-65,000 feet for 36 hours without refueling, and the Mariner, an extended-range version of the Air Force's MQ-9 Predator B UAV that flies at 50,000 feet for 49 hours. Mariner is being offered jointly by Predator manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Lockheed Martin.

A dark horse in the competition will be AeroVironment's liquid hydrogen fuel cell-powered Global Observer, which the company says will be able to stay aloft at 65,000 feet for a week or more. A sub-scale prototype flew successfully last year.

Capt. Paul Morgan, the program manager for unmanned air systems at Naval Air Systems Command, told Seapower that the Navy plans to issue a request for proposals for BAMS UAV system development and demonstration late this year.

The winning UAV will be selected no later than October 2007. Low-rate initial production of the first four BAMS air vehicles is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011.

Morgan's office will hold a BAMS industry day on May 17 at Patuxent River.

By GLENN W. GOODMAN Jr., Special Correspondent