The New York Times, Reuters reported that Israel recently deployed a major military exercise which appeared to be a trial for a possible bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
If such a strike realizes, the war will not be a conventional one as nuclear installations are involved. Pentagon officials are alerted. What is alarming is more than 100 fighter pilots carry out this training exercise. But, how could a highly classified nuclear program of a country be detected?
The answer lies in the advanced surveillance technology of aircraft and one of the most talk-about is the RQ-4 Global Hawk.
Produced by Northop Grummman, the RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which is used by the USAF as a reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft.
Armed with high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that can penetrate cloud-cover and sandstorms and Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) imagery, it can operate at ranges up to 3000 nautical miles from its launch area, with loiter capability over the target area of up to 24 hours at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet. Each unit costs around $35m USD.
The Global Hawk is also used by the US Navy, NASA, Royal Australian Air Force, Korea and Canada
On April 24, 2001 a Global Hawk flew non-stop from Edwards Air Force Base in the US to RAAF Base Edinburgh in Australia , making history by being the first pilotless aircraft to cross the Pacific Ocean . The flight took 22 hours.
In peace time operations, the Global Hawk was also used for a bird's-eye-view vantage point during the October 2007 California wildfires.
The Global Hawk today remains one of the most sought after reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft. In a recent visit to the Singapore Changi Air Show, I was amazed to see the Global Hawk on display. The shape is unique and yet is an unmanned aircraft. I took some pictures of it to go with my fighter plane origami collections at home. These paper fighter planes really look like the real deal.
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