A NEW ROLE FOR THE GLOBAL HAWK DRONE SPYPLANE AIRCRAFT - FROM DEFENSE TO NASA'S SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAMS...


There is a new role for the Global Hawk drone aircraft - two aircraft were transfered to Nasa in September 2007, after the United States Air Force decided they had no further use for the pre-production aircraft which were among the first seven constructed during the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program that was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

These were the world's first fully autonomous, high altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial system (drones) Global Hawks can fly up to 65,000 feet for more than 31 hours at a time. For example, they would be able to sample greenhouse gases responsible for ozone depletion and verify Nasa's aura atmosphere research satelitte.

The Global Hawks has been supporting the USAF in the global war on terror providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnnaisance in recent years. They were better known for their work as drone aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Global Hawks have a new role and many potential applications for the advancement of science, improved hurricane monitoring, development of disaster support capabilities and advanced UAS technologies.

During October 2007 Global Hawks were used for the first time to monotor wildfires in southern California.

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