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A remotely piloted RQ-4 Global Hawk operated by the US Air Force (USAF) landed at Avalon Airport on Saturday evening ahead of the Australian International Airshow 2015, marking the first time the high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft has flown into a civilian airport to be viewed by the general public.
“This is significant on a number of fronts,” stated Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown. “It is the first time a military unmanned aerial system has been in civil airspace with a civil air traffic control service in Australia, and the first time a military UAS has landed at a civil airport.”
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Back in March last year, the Australian government committed to acquiring Northrop Grumman’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, which is based on the Global Hawk, subject to the successful completion of the US Navy’s development program. Consequently, there is a great degree of interest in this opportunity to observe the RQ-4 up close.
“The close coordination required to bring the Global Hawk to Australia will pay great dividends in the future,” said Colonel Art Primas, who is playing the role of US ‘air boss’ at Avalon. “Creating standardised procedures will enable us to work together much more effectively and efficiently during whatever missions future requirements dictate.”
Noted Ian Irving, chief executive for Northrop Grumman Australia,“This is the first time that a Global Hawk has flown into an international airshow. 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.”
Blake
says:It would have been good to see this put on a flying display. It would certainly be something different to the rest of the program!
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:If the RQ-4 Global Hawk was to be put on the handling display for the air show audience (which won’t happen), are these aircraft noisy?
Just out of curiosity.
Cheers.
Raymond
says:Very interesting. Can’t wait until the Triton is in RAAF service.
I’d venture to say that when an aerial display at a public airshow has taken place, then the maturity and reliability of the UAS will really be spoken for!
Dee
says:A mix of 24 Global Hawks with our F35’s would make an awesome strike and attack Air Force, the Hawks being able to cruise at 60,000 ft, and have about 24 hours fly time.