Introduction to the U.S. Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft

The Global Hawk was dropped

If you understand the history of the birth of the Global Hawk, you may not feel that the Global Hawk was dropped. It's all humor. The American company Northrop Grumman launched the "Global Hawk" development program in 1994. The first prototype completed its first flight in February 1998. However, the first few years of the "Global Hawk" were very bad, and crashes occurred one after another. , has always been accompanied by disasters. In March 1999, the second "Global Hawk" prototype crashed due to receiving an incorrect signal. At the end of the year, the third prototype was severely disabled when it was forced to land. In December 2001, it participated in the Afghanistan War. Five prototypes fell and were damaged. In July 2002, another prototype crashed in Afghanistan. You must know that the US President had only built 7 prototypes.

However, the "Global Hawk" failed. "The broken wings of the aircraft do not seem to have affected the United States' continued development of it. What's more, the test results of the new weapon in the Afghan battlefield will also be reflected in different aspects. The upper levels of the US Air Force have discovered its great use from a transoceanic flight of the "Global Hawk" Value, the joy caused by this overwhelmed all the unhappiness. It was April 23, 2001, when a "Global Hawk" drone took off from Edwards Air Force Base on the west coast of the United States and successfully flew after 22 hours of non-stop flight. Landed at the Royal Australian Air Force base and successfully completed the mission across the Pacific. This successful test flight marked that the "Global Hawk" has been basically mature.

The "Global Hawk" has been improving

The "Global Hawk" UAV is already a world-famous high-altitude and long-endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. Its body is made of new materials in many parts, such as wings, rear fuselage, engine pod and The tail surface is made of composite materials. Its control method is advanced. When operating, the "Global Hawk" can fly autonomously by inputting the flight path information data into the onboard computer. A sensing detection system composed of a digital optical camera and an X-band radar can search and detect 100,000 square kilometers in 24 hours if used in wide-area search mode; if used in point search mode. Working in mode, it can detect 2 square kilometers with an accuracy of up to 300 mm. It can detect and identify military targets, such as tanks camouflaged with tree branches, through VHF/UHF dual-frequency vegetation penetration radar. The image data obtained on the aircraft can be used through data. The chain is transmitted to the ground command center.

The "Global Hawk" is equipped with a Rolls-Royce AE3007H turbofan jet engine. It has an empty weight of 12.1 tons, a payload of 900 kilograms, and the longest flight distance. It has a range of 26,000 kilometers and can fly to any location in the world from the United States. Its cruising speed is 740 kilometers per hour, its cruising altitude is up to 20,000 meters, and its detection system has a range of 20 to 200 kilometers, and can detect an average of 1,900 targets per day. point target. It is particularly suitable for performing strategic reconnaissance, communication relay and anti-jamming tasks. Through the intermediate link of the "Global Hawk" drone, the ground reconnaissance unit can directly communicate with the air fighter pilot. ; Ground combatants can communicate with rear commanders and even make calls to all parts of the world.