BAMS – Global Hawk’s high flying win

If BAMS proceeds as planned, US$1. 16bn (A$1. 24bn) will be committed for the initial system development and design (SDD) process. As a potential SDD partner on BAMS, the ADF has several months to decide whether to participate in the program. While Australia already has an in-principal agreement to join the program and has paid US$15m (A$16m) to get an insider’s view of the BAMS definition and decision processes in which six Australian observers participated, a further as yet unspecified commitment would be required to become a full SDD participant.

Federal cabinet gave first pass approval to the ADF’s Air 7000 Phase 1B program in July 2006 by committing it to the “cooperative development of a multi-mission unmanned aerial system capability. ” But the ADF may still choose to buy the Global Hawk through the traditional Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route, or perhaps go down another path altogether (see Defence Update this issue on page 76). Industry observers claim Australia has much to offer in the development of the aircraft’s ground control segment and the development of its maritime mission-optimised sensors.

If the Lockheed Martin GAO appeal is rejected, the US Navy will acquire between 48 and 68 Global Hawks, including three test aircraft and three low-rate initial production (LRIP) aircraft to be used for operational evaluation. About eight aircraft will make up a squadron to provide continuous overlapping 2000nm (3700km) surveillance orbits from bases in Hawaii, Japan, the British Indian Island territory of Diego Garcia, Sigonella in Italy, and Jacksonville in Florida at any one time. The remaining aircraft will make up an active reserve, allowing for maintenance and upgrade activities.

The Global Hawk has already proven its endurance qualifications, with operational USAF RQ-4A Block 10s regularly crossing the Pacific between RAAF Edinburgh near Adelaide and Edwards AFB in California on their way to and from operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Northrop Grumman teamed with L-3 Com, Raytheon and Rolls-Royce to offer the RQ-4N for the BAMS bid. The RQ-4N package includes the air vehicle, its sensors, the ground segments comprising the launch and recovery element and mission control element, and a data dissemination network.

The air vehicle is a development of the USAF’s larger Block 20 airframe (formerly designated RQ-4B) which entered flight test last year. The airframe will be further modified to accept the in-house developed 360 degree radar dubbed the Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) and turreted Night Hunter II EO/IR sensor which will be common to the manned P-8A Poseidon.

Partner L-3 will provide the system’s communications integration, Raytheon the ground and command and control segments, while the AE3007 turbofan engine comes from Rolls-Royce. The RQ-4N will also feature structural enhancements to better protect the aircraft against bird strikes, hail and adverse weather at lower altitudes.

Much of the development work for the RQ-4N has already begun on Northrop Grumman’s Head Start program, which saw a Gulfstream II testbed fitted with the MFAS radar and L‑3’s comms suite, along with a common datalink (CDL) system, and flown for more than 40 hours to demonstrate the ability to operate within the Navy’s ForceNet architecture and dynamic network and bandwidth control in an IP based environment.

Further development work has also been undertaken at Northrop Grumman’s Cyber Warfare Information Network simulation centres.

Naval BAMS Global Hawks will also differ from their USAF cousins in being fitted with remote-piloting capability and other human in-the-loop command and control variations better suited to its mission, as opposed to the autonomous and pre-programmed courses USAF aircraft fly.

The three LRIP BAMS aircraft are scheduled to fly in 2013, with operational evaluation following in 2014 and initial operating capability in 2015. Full operational capability is expected to be achieved by 2019 in conjunction with the P-8 Poseidon.

As an SDD partner, the RAAF could field its aircraft in a similar timeframe, but FOC for any RAAF FMS acquisition would likely run about two years behind that of the US Navy.