NATO's AGS Global Hawk Completes First Flight

Lara Seligman

owned and operated AGS just six months after the aircraft was unveiled, Sheehan said.

This flight demonstrated the flight control systems that allow NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance to operate semi-autonomously through a cooperative effort with the NATO [and] our industry partners," Sheehan said. "We couldn't be prouder of the entire team for this achievement."

The AGS is a derivative Northrop's Global Hawk, which has proven its ability to provide critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to commanders in Iraq and Syria during recent airstrikes against the Islamic State. The AGS, which is 94 percent common with the Global Hawk Block 40, will support a range of NATO missions such as protecting ground troops and civilian populations.

NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS)
Expanding NATO’s joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability, Northrop Grumman Corporation and its industry partners together with NATO leaders unveiled the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) aircraft to an audience of customers, distinguished guests, employees and community leaders on June 4, 2015 in Palmdale, California.The unmanned aircraft, a wide area surveillance Global Hawk, is part of a broader system of systems solution that will advance the Alliance’s evolving ISR needs during a full range of NATO’s missions such as protection of ground troops and civilian populations, border control and maritime safety, the fight against terrorism, crisis management and humanitarian assistance in natural disasters.The full NATO AGS system consists of air, ground, mission operations and support elements, performing all-weather, persistent wide-area terrestrial and maritime surveillance in near real-time.http://www.northropgrumman.com/
Posted by Desarrollo defensa y espacio on martes, 22 de diciembre de 2015

The AGS that took flight this weekend is one of five aircraft that will eventually be stationed in Sigonella, Italy, already home to US Air Force-owned Global Hawks. The system is being procured by 15 NATO partners — Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States — and will benefit all 28 nations.

The main operating station at Sigonella is supported by two mobile and transportable ground stations, Sheehan said, which will provide data link connectivity, data processing and exploitation capabilities to multiple users.

The next step is to integrate the sensor systems, including an advanced radar and a new Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, which allows the aircraft to fuse sensor data, continuously detect and track moving objects and provide imagery of the battlefield to commanders. This integration and ground testing will take place over the next few months, Sheehan said.

Northrop will transition the first NATO AGS to Sigonella in 2016, with initial operational capability expected in 2017, Sheehan said.

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