NATO plans to deploy first RQ-4s in 2012

By Stephen Trimble

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is "shooting for" a 2012 entry-into-service today for the long-awaited airborne ground surveillance fleet, although the contract remains unsigned and the most likely contractor acknowledges facing development issues.

Richard Froh, deputy secretary general for armaments, said 2012 date remains viable even after NATO transformed the programme last year from a mixed-fleet to an all-unmanned aircraft system fleet.

The new version of AGS would include eight Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk equipped with the multi-platform radar technology insertion programme (MP-RTIP) sensor.

NATO has sought an AGS capability similar to the US Air Force's Northrop E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) since the early 1990s. NATO originally planned to buy a mixed fleet of Airbus A321 and RQ-4s, but discarded that concept last year "largely for affordability reasons", Froh said.

The AGS programme is currently on hold until the NATO partners sign a memorandum of understanding, which would include capability requirements and a workshare agreement. NATO has budgeted over 1 billion euros to complete the deal.

For its part, Northrop believes the RQ-4B can meet NATO's delivery schedule, but the development programme for the MP-RTIP radar has fallen behind.

Northrop has stopped work on two of the four MP-RTIP modes - a concurrent synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) and a ground high resolution mode. Instead, Northrop is moving forward on finalizing the MP-RTIP's two standard modes, which are non-concurrent SAR maps and GMTI imagery.

Northrop believes the problems with the two advanced modes could be resolved by the time the first RQ-4Bs enter service for NATO in 2012.

© Reed Business Information 2009