UAV · HALE UAV
RQ-4 Global Hawk
Northrop Grumman · United States
High-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft providing wide-area ISR with SAR and EO/IR imagery; can survey ~40,000 sq mi of terrain per day.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Subcategory | Fixed-wing |
| Price | ~$130M unit (USAF; ~$99M base + ~$30M Block 40 sensors). CSV $130M plausible. |
| Subtype | HALE UAV |
| Role | Strategic ISR |
| Class | US Group 5 |
| Classification | Unarmed reconnaissance UAS |
| Mission | ISR |
| Datalink | SATCOM (Ku/UHF) and LOS |
| Variants | RQ-4A (Block 10), RQ-4B (Block 20/30/40) |
| Notable partners | Rolls-Royce (AE3007H engine), Raytheon (sensors) |
| Operators | USAF, US Navy (BAMS-D), NATO (AGS), Japan, South Korea |
| Frame type | Fixed-wing |
| Length (m) | 14.5 |
| Propulsion | Turbofan |
| Range (km) | 22800 |
| Wingspan (m) | 39.9 |
| Combat-proven | Yes |
| Export status | Exported (NATO AGS, Japan, South Korea) |
| Launch method | Runway |
| Autonomy level | Autonomous |
| Endurance (min) | 1800 |
| Recovery method | Runway |
| Year introduced | 2001 |
| Max payload (kg) | 907 |
| Max speed (km/h) | 640 |
| Standard sensors | SAR, EO/IR, MP-RTIP (Block 40) |
| Production status | In service |
| Notable engagements | OEF/OIF ISR; one RQ-4 (BAMS-D) shot down by Iran over Strait of Hormuz in 2019 |
| Service ceiling (m) | 18288 |
| Conflicts deployed in | Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Horn of Africa |
| Airframe / lift type | Fixed-wing |
| Control / autonomy level | Fully autonomous (human-off-the-loop, AI-navigated), RC line-of-sight – BVLOS |
| Domain | Aerial (UAV/UAS) |
| Mission / use case – military | ISR |
| Origin / supply chain | Military-grade |
| Propulsion | Turbine / jet |
| Range / endurance | Long endurance (>24 hrs) |
| Signature / detectability | RF-emitting |
| Speed regime | High-speed / jet (>400 km/h) |
| Threat vector | Surveillance / reconnaissance |
| Weight / class | Class III – HALE (>600 kg) |
In the news 9
U.S. Navy Triton spy drone gets stuck at runway’s endProject Swamp Gas: why the Pentagon is spending $64m on high-altitude balloonsAerial tankers: The force multiplier behind modern airpowerOld balloons, new drones: U.S. Army tests both in JapanNorth Korea reveals new drone production linesLa force aérienne d’autodéfense japonaise a perdu l’un de ses trois drones RQ-4 Global HawkIran claims it shot down a Polish-made dronePour renforcer ses moyens de surveillance maritime, l’Otan va acquérir cinq drones MQ-4C Triton auprès de Northrop GrummanJapan expresses interest in an anti-submarine variant of the Eurodrone
From uav360.xyz, the xSonomy news feed. Headlines link to the original publisher.
Review-stage catalogue data — specs corroborated from manufacturer and secondary sources; not for procurement decisions. Source: www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/aircraft/global-hawk