The U.S. Air Force awarded a $555.6 million contract to Northrop Grumman to modernize its fleet of Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
In a statement, the Department of Defense (DoD) said the modernization efforts would include upgrades to the Global Hawk’s “configuration management, data management, retrofit requirements and integrated logistics support.” Northrop Grumman will perform the upgrades at its aerospace systems facility in San Diego.
In fiscal 2012, Global Hawk operated at a mission-capable rate of nearly 78% that surpassed the U.S. Air Force’s prerequisite for 19 successive months.