DARPA Tasks Northrop Grumman to Demonstrate Autonomous Aerial Refueling

Two Global Hawk UAVs Will Accomplish a World's First

SAN DIEGO, July 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DARPA announced the award of a $33 million contract to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) to demonstrate aerial refueling of a NASA Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by a sister ship. The program will be designated KQ-X.

Northrop Grumman will retrofit two of the high altitude long endurance (HALE) UAVs, one aircraft pumping fuel into the other in flight through a hose-and-drogue refueling system. The aerial refueling engagement will be completely autonomous.

"Demonstrating the refueling of one UAV by another is a historic milestone," said Carl Johnson, vice president, Advanced Concepts for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "It adds aerial refueling to the list of capabilities that can be accomplished autonomously by Global Hawks; it opens the door to greatly expanded operational utility for UAVs; and, as a side benefit, it promises to increase the safety and reliability of aerial refueling between manned aircraft by reducing pilot workload."  

There are several revolutionary aspects to the KQ-X program. Not only will the aerial refueling be autonomous, but since Global Hawks are HALE UAVs, it will also take place at a much higher altitude than has been previously demonstrated with manned aircraft. It will also be the first time that HALE UAVs have flown in formation.

"The importance of aerial refueling is clear in the way military aviation depends on it today," said Jim McCormick, the DARPA program manager for KQ-X. "This demonstration will go a long way towards making those same advantages a reality for the next generation of unmanned aircraft."

Engineering work will be accomplished at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Development Center in Rancho Bernardo, California. Pilots from NASA, NOAA, and Northrop Grumman will fly the Global Hawks from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, also in California. Sargent Fletcher, Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corporation are major KQ-X subcontractors.

Northrop Grumman and EADS Defence & Security's Euro Hawk(R) Unmanned Aircraft Completes Successful First Flight

PALMDALE, Calif., June 30, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Euro Hawk® unmanned aircraft system (UAS), built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and EADS Defence & Security, successfully completed its first flight June 29. The high-flying aircraft took off at approximately 10:32 a.m. PDT from Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., manufacturing facility and climbed to 32,000 feet over Palmdale's desert skies before landing nearly two hours later at 12:24 p.m. PDT at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
"The Euro Hawk® marks the first international configuration of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAS, and strengthens Northrop Grumman's first trans-Atlantic cooperation with Germany and EADS Defence & Security," said Duke Dufresne, sector vice president and general manager of the Strike and Surveillance Systems Division for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.  "This is a wonderful start for the Euro Hawk's® flight test program, and a great testament to the Northrop Grumman and EADS Defence & Security team who worked diligently to make it happen."
Based on the Block 20 Global Hawk, Euro Hawk® will be equipped with a new signals intelligence (SIGINT) mission system developed by EADS Defence & Security, providing standoff capability to detect electronic and communications emitters. A ground station consisting of a mission control and launch and recovery elements will be provided by Northrop Grumman. EADS Defence & Security will also provide a SIGINT ground station, which will receive and analyze the data from Euro Hawk® as part of an integrated system solution.
"It is a day of great pride for all the teams involved, as the first Euro Hawk® takes to the skies, marking a significant step in this demonstration of well-shared trust and efficiency," said Nicolas Chamussy, senior vice president of Mission Air Systems for EADS Defence & Security.
The German Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded a contract in January 2007 to EuroHawk GmbH for the development, test and support of the Euro Hawk® SIGINT surveillance and reconnaissance system. Under this contract, EuroHawk GmbH will also provide aircraft modifications, mission control and launch and recovery ground segments, flight test and logistics support.
"Formed as a 50-50 joint venture company by Northrop Grumman and EADS Defence & Security, EuroHawk GmbH acts as the national prime contractor for the German MoD throughout the lifecycle of the Euro Hawk® system," said Neset Tuekenmez, chief executive officer of the EuroHawk GmbH. "This partnership is an excellent example in international relations for both companies, ensuring Euro Hawk® is a continued success story in the history of trans-Atlantic cooperation."
With a wingspan larger than a commercial airliner, endurance of 30 hours and a maximum altitude of more than 60,000 feet, Euro Hawk® is an interoperable, modular and cost-effective replacement to the aging fleet of manned Breguet Atlantic aircraft, which have been in service since 1972 and will be retired in 2010. Subsequent systems are anticipated for delivery between 2016 and 2017 following successful testing and introduction in German operational service.




Press Release

Aprobado el proyecto de Ley Orgánica de derechos y deberes de los miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas españolas

http://www.defensa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2051:aprobado-el-proyecto-de-ley-organica-de-derechos-y-deberes-de-los-miembros-de-las-fuerzas-armadas-espanolas&catid=54:espana&Itemid=162

-    Libertad religiosa: se ha añadido en la exposición de motivos una referencia a la libertad religiosa y a la asistencia religiosa prevista en la Ley de la Carrera Militar.

-    Derecho a la intimidad personal del militar: se ha introducido un factor de modulación en la redacción con la fórmula: "…dentro de las posibilidades que permitan las características de las distintas unidades y las circunstancias en que tengan lugar las operaciones".

-    Vías de participación: se regulan dos vías complementarias de participación: la vía de las iniciativas y quejas por cauces internos, y la vía a través de asociaciones profesionales en el Consejo de Personal de las Fuerzas Armadas. Se remite a Real Decreto (en lugar de orden ministerial) el desarrollo del procedimiento.

-    Se ha mejorado la redacción de varios artículos relativos a los estatutos de las asociaciones profesionales.

-    Límite a la libertad estatutaria de los miembros de una asociación: Actividades paramilitares: se prohíbe que las asociaciones profesionales puedan realizar estas actividades o ejercicios de formación e instrucción de ese carácter.

-    Reuniones de carácter informativo: se habilitarán locales adecuados que podrán estar ubicados en instalaciones del Ministerio de Defensa siempre que no sean unidades de la fuerza o del apoyo de la fuerza de los Ejércitos.

-    Designación de los miembros del Observatorio de la vida militar: su composición será de ocho miembros, cuatro elegidos por el Congreso de los Diputados y cuatro por el Senado.

AP04 DE UAV NAVIGATION EN TODOS LOS AVIONES BLANCO ESPAÑOLES

Todos los aviones blanco españoles vuelan con el AP04 de UAV Navigation

 

El piloto automático AP04, del fabricante español UAV Navigation, dirige el vuelo de todos los aviones blanco (Target Drones) Scrab de las Fuerzas Armadas españolas.

 

El Scrab es un blanco aéreo no tripulado de altas prestaciones desarrollado por la empresa española Sistemas de Control Remoto (SCR) y utilizado para el entrenamiento de unidades de defensa tierra-aire y aire-aire. El Scrab II, desarrollado

a petición del Ejército español, es esencialmente una versión ampliada y bimotor del Scrab I, diseñado para aumentar la carga útil, velocidad y autonomía. Para dirigir el vuelo de todos ellos se ha elegido al AP04, un autopiloto de reducidas dimensiones para UAV de ala fija y helicópteros, que permite el despegue y aterrizaje automático, realizar el plan de vuelo de manera completamente autónoma y que es capaz de

controlar gran variedad de cargas de pago.

 

UAV Navigation es hoy, de hecho, el primer proveedor en todo el mundo de este piloto para aviones blanco. La precisión, incremento de capacidades que aporta y reducidas dimensiones del piloto, capaz de dirigir autónomamente todas las fases del vuelo, explican que se haya convertido en la opción seleccionada para ser el cerebro de los UAV de los grandes fabricantes en todo el planeta.

 

El éxito internacional de la empresa se ve respaldado ahora, tras haber abierto sede en EEUU, con su introducción en el mercado de Asia-Pacífico, donde acaban de nombrar a la empresa china Asian Pacific como representante para la región, donde las expectativas del creciente mercado de sistemas aéreos no tripulados son enormes.

 

www.uavnavigation.com

US company partners with Antonov in surprise KC-X bid

Ukrainian Aircraft Builder Antonov Wants Shot at KC-X Tanker Contract
http://defensetech.org/2010/07/02/ukrainian-aircraft-builder-antonov-wants-shot-at-kc-x-tanker-contract/#ixzz0sXCbvO2P Defense.org

US company partners with Antonov in surprise KC-X bid
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/07/02/343992/us-company-partners-with-antonov-in-surprise-kc-x-bid.html


In KC-X Twist, Ukrainian Aircraft Maker, U.S. Aerospace Readying Bid
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4695743&c=EUR&s=AIR

Northrop, DARPA to demo autonomous UAV refueling

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/07/01/343971/northrop-darpa-to-demo-autonomous-uav-refueling.html


Under a $33 million deal dubbed KQ-X, Northrop will demonstrate refueling with a pair of Block 10 RQ-4 Global Hawks the company is currently sharing with NASA.