SGA 2012: NG considers reducing Global Hawk running costs

13 February 2012 - by Andrew White – Shepard Group

Northrop Grumman is studying ‘more efficient ways’ of operating the RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 UAS in order to reduce costs and force the US Department of Defense (DoD) into a dramatic U-turn, Shephard has been informed.

According to senior executives within the company, Northrop Grumman is looking at the ramifications and impact of the DoD’s decision on 26 January to cap the programme in favour of Lockheed Martin’s U-2 aircraft- a platform which has been in operation since 1956. Speaking to Shephard, Northrop Grumman executives said meetings were ongoing with USAF and OSD officials.

Further details of the cuts were expected to be unveiled in budget proposals submitted to Congress on 13 February. One company source said: ‘The air force has expressed concern at the loss of capability in theatres and we are having meetings with the air force and OSD and discussing what it would mean if [cuts were] implemented. This is a proposal and not a final decision.’

Claiming that the system was performing ‘very well’ overseas on operations, sources said the decision was budgetary and not value-driven. ‘[Global Hawk Block 30] programme of record was set up to replace the U-2 with all the same support mechanisms. For example, about a third of the U-2 fleet would be deployed while the remainder stay home for training and mission preparation. ‘Global Hawk doesn’t need to do that. These were assumptions made when we built the programme but it can be “skinnied” down considering what we’re learning,’ they added. ‘Most training for Global Hawk is conducted on the job during missions. There are huge savings for the training tail.’

Admitting that there were ‘deficiencies in sensors’ compared to the U-2, officials conceded that there were ‘niche capabilities’ that the U-2 held over Global Hawk. Conversely, they said: ‘There are things that Global Hawk does with sensors that U-2 cannot do.’ They added that official air force data unveiled in the middle of last year showed how U-2 was less expensive to operate than Global Hawk on a cost per flight basis. However, they claimed that these statistics had since been reversed. ‘There has been a change in the maturity of the system. One-time costs associated with it were assumed into the database,’ they continued while describing how the system had not completed its scheduled amount of total flying hours last year, thereby increasing operational costs per hour.

According to Northrop Grumman, there are daily discussions with different elements within the USAF regarding Global Hawk Block 30. ‘We are all waiting for the actual budget to drop. Our suggestions centre around how and where to save dollars.’

Meanwhile, company officials said they were in the midst of initial discussions with the Singapore government regarding Foreign Military Sales of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) Global Hawk variant. Having described ‘general briefings’ with Singapore officials, a Northrop Grumman source said: ‘We chatted them up and are keeping them up to speed on BAMS. As they roll out their requirement, we will see where they stand.’

The first flight of the BAMS MQ-4C is scheduled to take place in the US during September with an initial operating capability due to be implemented for the US Navy by December 2015. Similarly, Northrop Grumman is keeping the Australian DoD informed of programme activity. Company officials were in Australia last week to discuss specifics with their System Design and Development partner. Elsewhere, it emerged that Northrop Grumman has responded to India’s RfI for a HALE maritime UAS.