Article Posted on : - Jul 22, 2011

The Euro Hawk successfully lands on centerline July 21 at its new home in Manching, Germany. Photo: Northrop Grumman.

MANCHING, GERMANY (BNS): The first 'Euro Hawk' Unmanned Aircraft System, produced by Northrop Grumman Corporation for German Bundeswehr (Federal Defence Force), has successfully landed Thursday in Manching Air Base, southern Germany after a 22-hour flight from California.

Euro Hawk, the first high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE), signals intelligence (SIGINT) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) based on the RQ-4 Global Hawk, successfully touched down at 10:06 Central European Summer Time in Manching Air Base, Germany.

"Today's arrival of the Euro Hawk on German soil marks a significant step in delivering this highly capable and unique system to the Bundeswehr," Nicolas Chamussy, head of UAVs, Cassidian Air Systems, and member of the board of directors, EuroHawk GmbH, was quoted as saying in a Northrop Grumman news release.

The Euro Hawk will carry a new SIGINT mission system developed by EADS Deutschland GmbH (Cassidian) and integrated in Manching, Germany.

The first Euro Hawk demonstrator for Bundeswehr is scheduled for mid-2012, with another four systems scheduled tentatively between 2015 and 2017.

"Soon, the Bundeswehr will be able to independently cover their needs for SIGINT data collection and analysis, thus contributing to NATO, European Union and United Nations operations," Neset Tükenmez, chief executive officer, EuroHawk GmbH added.