Global Hawk

An unmanned aerial vehicle the size of a plane with a similar shape including a curved front, wings and stabilizers seen in flight.
Global Hawk, flying and spying. Photo: Northrop Grumman

The Global Hawk is an unmanned aerial vehicle that's used for high-altitude, long-duration surveillance. You tell it what to do, and it can take off, fly, spy, and return without any human input.

Creator

Northrop Grumman

Year
2001
Country
United States 🇺🇸
Categories
Features
MythBusters meet Global Hawk. Video: Discovery

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Appearance

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Did you know?

NASA has its own Global Hawk that it uses to spy on the ocean and the atmosphere.

A view of the UAV as it flies over a barren landscape.
Nice view up here. Photo: Northrop Grumman
A monotone aerial view.
A Global Hawk aerial view of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Photo: Northrop Grumman

Specs

Overview

Able to fly halfway around the globe and remain on station for long periods of time. Capable of capturing high-resolution, near-real-time imagery.

Status

Ongoing

Year

2001

Website
Width
3980 cm
Height
470 cm
Length
1450 cm
Weight
14628 kg (gross weight)
Speed
574 km/h
Sensors

All-weather synthetic aperture radar, high-resolution electro-optical digital camera, infrared sensor.

Actuators

Rolls Royce-North American F137-RR-100 turbofan engine

Materials

Lightweight, high-strength composites for wings and other parts. Standard aluminum for main fuselage.

Compute

On-board secure computing and communication system with Ku SATCOM Datalink, CDL LOS, UHF SATCOM/LOS, and INMARSAT.

Cost
$35 million (manufacturing cost; sensors and operation not included)