Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Mission Management, Control Systems Capabilities

Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated mission management control features that create more unmanned aircraft system (UAS) versatility and efficiencies.

During a series of high-altitude, long-endurance RQ-4 Global Hawk demonstrations, the UAS seamlessly responded to external requests to dynamically alter its route of flight and sensor functionality, thereby breaking the one-user to one-vehicle paradigm, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The demonstration verified that the Global Hawk is capable of integrating advanced mission management capability without changes to the air vehicle software.

The demonstration supports the broader objectives of the US Air Force's Common Mission Control Center (CMCC) program. The Global Hawk interfaced to the CMCC using the UAS C2 Initiative (UCI) message set. The UCI is an emerging standard that enables interoperability across multiple weapon systems.