Unmanned Watching Continents
At one time in the novel “The Battlefield - Earth” (his film version was subsequently produced by John Travolta, who played the role of the main alien villain in the movie) Ron Hubbard described the future of humanity, “crumpled fifth alien invaders”. Moreover, the observation of the enslaved earthlings was carried out with the help of high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, which continuously and in real time transmitted to the control station a picture of the terrain in the areas under control.
BASE ON SICILY
And now, it seems, in the very near future - albeit partially, and without the intervention of aliens from outer space - this story will begin to materialize. According to the published plans of the command of the US Air Force, it is planned to start regular, and quite likely permanent patrols of the airspace and territory of Europe and Africa with 2011, using strategic altitude drone Global Hawk.
Stationed units drones-observers will be at a new base being created by the US Air Force for its unmanned aerial vehicles aviation systems on the island of Sicily, on the territory of the Italian VVB "Sigonella". Today, the aircraft of the basic patrol aircraft, the Italian Atlantic and the American Orion, take off and land here, flying over the Mediterranean Sea.
This decision is the next stage of a long-term program implemented by the US Air Force command in the direction of expanding the zone of operations of the Global Hawk UAV. So far, thanks to these high-altitude drones, constant monitoring of the areas of the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf has been organized. In addition, from Beale Air Force Base in California, Drones perform reconnaissance flights over Latin American countries for the benefit of the United States Southern Command (for example, on January 13, 2010, the Global Hawk, taking off from the Beal VVB, took photographs of the areas of Haiti that were subjected to a devastating earthquake). However, even before the start of the work of the air squadron in Sicily, a similar unit of the Global Hawk UAV, formed at the Guam Air Force Base, should reach the state of initial operational readiness.
During 2010, it is planned to finalize work on the preparation of the Sigonella base and to transfer there three UAVs, 66 military personnel of the US Air Force and 40 civilian contractors, who will be entrusted with the logistics of the detachment’s activities. At present, a principle agreement has been reached with the leadership of the Italian Ministry of Defense on deploying up to four Global Hawk UAVs Block 30 in Sicily. In the future, the possibility of replacing these drones with a Block 40 modification is not excluded.
“According to the approved plan of activities, unmanned aerial vehicles should arrive at the base by October 2010 of the year, then preparatory flights will be carried out, operators will study the routes and operation theater as a whole, then at the beginning of 2011 we will begin to perform operational (combat) tasks”, - stressed in an interview with the American weekly “Defense Weekly,” one of the leaders of the program for the development and maintenance of the Global Hawk-type UAV from the US Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Ricky Thomas.
According to the official representatives of the US Air Force, the unmanned aerial squadron deployed at the Sigonella air base will be operatively subordinate to the head of the US European Command and will be involved primarily in solving the tasks assigned to this command. but also tasks for the US Africa Command.
"KING-MONSTER"
The choice of the Global Hawk type RQ-4 UAV as the primary means of conducting aerial reconnaissance and surveillance, including in the zone of Europe and Africa, is by no means accidental. At present, this drone with a wingspan reaching 39,9 m can be called, without exaggeration, the actual uncrowned “king of UAVs”. The device has a takeoff weight of about 14,5 tons and carries a payload of more than 1300 kilograms. He is able to stay in the air without landing and refueling up to 36 hours, while maintaining a speed of about 570 kilometers per hour. BLA ferry range exceeds 22 thousands of kilometers.
According to the estimates of the Northrop Grumman development company, Global Hawk can cover the distance from the Sigonella VBB to Johannesburg and back at one gas station. In this case, the drone has a truly unique characteristics for the air spy and controller. He is able, for example, to collect information using a wide range of special equipment installed on board - a radar with synthetic beam aperture (developed by Reyteon), a combined optical-electronic / infrared intelligence system AAQ-16, electronic intelligence systems LR-100, other means. At the same time, Global Hawk UAVs are equipped with a set of navigation and communications equipment that allows unmanned aircraft of this family to perform tasks assigned to them with high efficiency (there are satellite communication and navigation systems, radio communication systems, data exchange systems, etc. on board each drone. ).
The operation of RQ-4 Global Haw devices of various modifications turned out to be so effective that these drones were paid attention by both military commanders from commands of other types of the US armed forces and representatives of the defense departments of a number of foreign states. The US Navy leadership was one of the first to adapt the Global Hawk drones to its needs: under the production contract of the United States Air Force, two RQ-4A drones were purchased, which received the distinctive designation RQ-4 Block 10. The first strategic drone was placed at the disposal of the US military fleet in 2004, and the second in March 2006. The US Navy admirals pushed to such a step a comparative analysis of the results of the combat use of the manned reconnaissance aircraft and AWACS E-2C Hokai owned by them in the Persian Gulf and the use of the Global Haw and Predator UAVs by the US Air Force.
ASSISTANT "POSEIDON"
However, the United States naval forces purchased two RQ-4A drons only for conducting naval tests and using as demonstrators the capabilities that the aircraft of this class possess. The drone that won, in the opinion of the leaders of the US Navy, a tender for a “naval reconnaissance UAV” (BAMS - Broad Area Maritime Surveillance) will go into the series. And it was a somewhat modernized version of the same Global Hawk, the main purpose of which was determined by the American admirals to conduct reconnaissance and issue target data, as well as to monitor the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of the state.In this case, overseas naval commanders presented the following main requirements to their prospective drone:
- providing a circular view for the airborne radar and other means of reconnaissance and surveillance;
- the ability to control the designated area at a distance 2000 miles (about 3700 km) from the location of the device using no more than three UAVs, each of which must be in the "working" zone of at least 80% of its maximum flight duration (about 24 hours);
- the ability to reach any patrol point within no more than 10 hours;
- the drone is controlled from a ground or ship command center.
In addition, the drone must have the ability to decline to a height “below the cloud zone” - in order to observe navigation using a combined optical-electronic / infrared system.
The model chosen by the United States Navy was created by Northrop Grumman based on the RQ-4B Block 20 modification. The drone received the designation RQ-4N from the developers. The target load intended for the sea high-altitude UAVs will presumably include a multifunctional radar (manufactured by Northrop Grumman, tested on board the Orion R-3 flight laboratory), the combined optical-electronic / infrared system Nighthunter II (also developed by Northrop Grumman ", tested on an airplane WB-57) and a communication / data exchange system that was run-in on a modified Gulfstream II.
According to Edda Walby, an employee of the Northrop Grumman division engaged in unmanned aerial vehicles and equipment for them, the new radar RQ-4N is similar in capabilities to the radar of the spy plane U-2. “With it, you can survey in a wide area of coverage, observe in a certain strip, and also perform“ point-like ”reconnaissance,” says Walby.
Moreover, the airborne avionics of the Global Hoka differs from the same equipment on unmanned aerial vehicles of this type, operated by the US air force, with a greater degree of efficiency and manufacturability. In fact, a significant part of the payload of the RQ-4N is completely different than the base version of the Global Hawk used to create it. In particular, if the United States Air Force uses a Ku-based commercial satellite communications system to control drones, the American seafarers relied on the Weidband Gapfiller satellite, which provides communication lines in the Ka range, which is more suitable for monitoring systems flying drone over extended water spaces. In addition, the RQ-4N / BAMS will be equipped with an 16 radio channel and data exchange systems operating in the Ka and X ranges and designed to provide information transfer between these PELIDON Poseidon multi-purpose patrol aircraft and other aircraft and ships and ships of the US Navy. All of this, according to estimates by US naval experts, will allow the fleets of the United States to continuously receive valuable intelligence information in real time.
The declared cost of the RQ-4N design phase is 2,3 billion dollars, and serial production is 4 billion. It is expected that the first marine Global Hawk will rise into the air in 2011, the drones must reach a state of initial operational readiness, while the first of the five planned units, they will be as ready and start patrolling in 2013.
STRANGE INTENTIONS
“We will not fly unmanned aerial vehicles over the territory of any state without obtaining special permission,” Lieutenant Colonel Ricky Thomas emphasized in an interview with journalists. However, it is not entirely clear why, in this case, to start this whole project at all, to build a base for drones, to transfer to it expensive and by no means in inactivity UAVs, hundreds of military and civilian specialists? Since it is not known whether they will all be provided with work ...
Of course, in Europe with permission to fly special problems are unlikely to arise - after all, almost all the countries of the Old World are either NATO allies, or intend to join the North Atlantic alliance. And the detachment will obey indirectly to the command of the unit. However, on the European continent, the Americans may have some differences with individual states. But here's how the Pentagon and the State Department are going to persuade the leaders of African states to give the go-ahead to stay over their heads of overseas reconnaissance drones — completely incomprehensible.
It is unlikely, for example, Colonel Gaddafi in his right mind would decide to accept such a proposal and would agree that US drones patrol Libyan territory. The same can be said for Algeria and a number of other countries of the Black Continent, which are not at all friendly to the United States. But after all, it is these “unreliable” states that interest Washington in the first place. In short, it seems to be losing all sense, it would seem, and a prudent, and visionary, and promising project.
Moreover, to date, the Americans have not yet succeeded in even coordinating with Italians the air corridors that will use the Global Hoki Sigonella-based for take-off and landing (on the other hand, in the southern coast of the country there already exists a special air corridor for flights Italian UAV "Predator"). And although official representatives of the United States Air Force assure that a positive solution to this issue is only a matter of time, there is a clear threat of stalling the entire program "into a tailspin." After all, if for so long it’s not possible to remove such a “trivial” problem from the agenda and agree with the country in whose territory the American unmanned aircraft squad is to be based, then what efforts will Washington have to make to achieve agreement on the flights of Pentagon drones in the airspace of the states members of the NATO bloc and sometimes even "somewhat unfriendly" looking to the West?
However, Washington can do what it has been doing for many previous decades: ignore all the norms of international law and send Global Hoki on reconnaissance flights over other countries without asking for the permission of their leaders. Recall that it was precisely "concern for the security of the Western world" that justified the raids of American U-2 spy planes in the airspace of the Soviet Union by United States President Dwight Eisenhower. Then only the combat crew of the Soviet anti-aircraft missile system could put an end - after that the “noble mission” was immediately terminated.
HUB FOR DRONS
Located in a very convenient place - what is called at the crossroads between Europe and Africa, the air force base in Sicily makes it possible to most effectively organize control of the situation in the Mediterranean theater and in the surrounding regions with the help of high-rise strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Last but not least, it was on the basis of these considerations that Sigonella was chosen by the command of the United States Air Force and Navy, and by the Allied Command of NATO as an airfield for the Global Hawk. In particular, the decision to deploy their UAVs created under the BAMS program has already been made by the US Navy. At the same base, NATO plans all its prospective eight Global Hawk Block 40 UAVs that are planning to deploy drones in the AGS / Alliance Ground Surveillance program. Moreover, the Northrop Grumman employees have already announced that after forming the unmanned squadron on the Sigonella VVB, a representative office will be opened there (several specialists of the company actively participate in creating conditions for basing on the Sihonella VVB of strategic UAVs). This will allow to more quickly solve various issues and introduce on the aircraft deployed on the Sigonella drones the latest developments on their onboard systems.
According to the information spread by the US command, at the first stage, Global Hoke drones performing missions must be carried out by operators who are already at the Beel, California, previously mentioned, and the personnel at the Siegonella WWB will only be responsible for taking off and landing apparatus. If Block 40 Global Hawk UAVs equipped with specialized MPRTIP ground reconnaissance radars are sent to Sicily, the operational control of these drones will be handled by specialists at the command post located at the Grand Forks Air Force Base (North Dakota).
However, by the time the unmanned base in Sicily is commissioned, only strategic altitude drone of the Global Hawk family belonging to the US Air Force will be ready for its intended use. The first subdivision of drones created on the basis of Global Hawk within the framework of the US Navy program BAMS, as mentioned above, will reach the state of initial operational readiness no earlier than 2015 of the year. And eight Global Hawk-type UAVs intended for the joint NATO air reconnaissance (AGS program) can be delivered to the customer from the assembly line of the manufacturing company only through 3-4 of the year after the conclusion of relevant intergovernmental agreements and production contracts.
At the headquarters of the North Atlantic Alliance, they expect these documents to be signed at the latest by the end of the summer of 2010, but they do not exclude that the process of their coordination may be delayed. The latter is very likely, since positions on a number of issues among the countries participating in the AGS program, and their exactly 15, sometimes differ seriously enough. Moreover, the final decision on the basing of UAVs attracted to this program will be made only after the official launch of the program itself, the settlement of various technical issues and the conclusion of all production contracts with the main contractor and subcontractors.
But if everything goes in accordance with the developed plans, a unique base of strategic high-altitude drones, a real hub for the Global Hawk, will appear on the Sigonella WWB. This will significantly increase the capabilities of the US military and allied forces to conduct reconnaissance in Europe, the Mediterranean and the African continent.
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