With the significant exception of being unmanned, the RQ-4A Global Hawk is similar to the legendary Lockheed U-2 in mission. The Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can survey large geographic areas with pinpoint accuracy from high altitudes while keeping pilots out of harm’s way. Once mission parameters are programmed into the aircraft, it autonomously taxis, takes off, flies, captures imagery, returns and lands. High-resolution sensors can look through adverse weather, day or night, from an altitude of 65,000 feet, enabling surveillance over 40,000 square miles – an area roughly the size of Illinois – in just 24 hours. Ground-based operators monitor the global Hawk’s systems and can change navigation and surveillance coverage during flight as necessary. The Global Hawk’s mission is to provide commanders in the field with near-real time high-resolution images.

Since its first flight on February 28, 1998, the Global Hawk has achieved numerous firsts in aviation history: the first UAV to fly non-stop round trip across the Atlantic ocean; the first UAV to fly non-stop across the Pacific (from California to Australia); the first fully autonomous UAV used in combat operations; and the first UAV to be certified by the FAA to fly in U.S. national airspace. Recently, the RQ-4A has been used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and monitors flashpoints in other regions around the world. The RQ-4A Global Hawk on display is a 1⁄2 scale model built by Aurora Flight Sciences, which manufactures the V-tail for the real aircraft. The model was donated to the Museum in 2002 by Northrop Grumman.