Global Hawk To Mark International Air Show Debut in Australia

Northrop Grumman’s (NOC) RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system that is capable of high-altitude surveillance missions for greater than 30 hours, will be displayed at the Australian International Air Show.

The system is ideally suited for the vast Asia-Pacific region. "This is the first time that a Global Hawk has flown into an international air show," said Ian Irving, chief executive for Northrop Grumman Australia in its press release on Monday.

"This really speaks to the maturity and reliability of the system. As the Royal Australian Air Force seeks to procure the MQ-4C Triton UAS, a variant based on Global Hawk, they will be able to use the system's capabilities to transform the way they conduct maritime surveillance missions." Irving added.

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the Triton program and is currently working with the U.S. Navy to develop the system for operational use by 2017.

Mary Petryszyn vice president of International at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems said, Global Hawk's arrival is another milestone to add to the list of major advancements for Northrop Grumman's family of Global Hawk UAS.

"Korea, Australia and Japan have all made major decisions leading to the expected acquisition of either Global Hawk or Triton in the last year," said Petryszyn.

"This is testament to the value and performance of these systems, and to the tremendous amount of actionable information they deliver to military commanders and government agencies," Petryszyn added.