Northrop Grumman Corporation has released the following statement on the Global Hawk Block 30 programme: “The Pentagon announced that it is planning to cancel the Global Hawk Block 30 programme and plans to perform this mission with the U-2 aircraft. Northrop Grumman is disappointed with the Pentagon’s decision, and plans to work with Pentagon to assess alternatives to programme termination.

The Global Hawk programme has demonstrated its utility in US military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as its utility in humanitarian operations in Japan and Haiti. Just a few months ago, the Pentagon published an acquisition decision memorandum regarding Global Hawk Block 30 that stated: “The continuation of the programme is essential to the national security…there are no alternatives to the programme which will provide acceptable capability to meet the joint military requirement at less cost.”

“Global Hawk is the modern solution to providing surveillance. It provides long duration persistent surveillance, and collects information using multiple sensors on the platform. In contrast, the ageing U-2 programme, first introduced in the 1950s, places pilots in danger, has limited flight duration, and provides limited sensor capacity. Extending the U-2’s service life also represents additional investment requirements for that programme.

“Northrop Grumman is committed to working with our customers to provide the best solutions for our country and our allies. We are pleased with the continuing support for the Global Hawk Block 40 system, as well as for the Navy’s broad area maritime surveillance system and our other unmanned systems,” states the Northrop Grumman statement.