Global Hawk contract awarded

SAN DIEGO – The Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $302.9 million contract for five RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial systems. Under the Lot 7 production contract, the company will build two Block 30 systems and three Block 40 systems for the 303d Aeronautical Systems Group at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The award includes a ground station consisting of a launch and recovery element and a mission control element, plus two additional sensor suites that will be retrofitted into previous production aircraft. The contract runs through 2011. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 11/20/09) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawks are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.