Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin in Big Race to Replace U.S Air Force’s UAVs

There are speculations that the US defense giants Northrop and Lockheed could be in a big race to offer successor to USAF’s Global Hawk drones. The RQ-4 global hawk drones are now deemed as obsolete by the USAF in the wake of emerging threats from adversaries like China.

The successor of the RQ-4 global hawk drones will inducted into the U.S Air Force’s by end of this decade.Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom said that, RQ-4 global hawk drones fleet is not potential of fighting against modern air defenses and its replacements are underway.

Referring to the Block 40 Global Hawk, the top Air Force’s official said, USAF look to gather intelligence from in future. However, the official said that the Global Hawk drones will be used in Ground Moving Target Indicator missions. Nahom also reiterated the importance of the Global Hawk Drones in the coming years. The Global Hawk Drones have the ISR capability.

Nahom also admitted that the threat has accelerated much more than before. A U.S senate pointed out that China, the Asian country has become a big threat to the U.S than the Soviet Union due to its increasing economic base.Many such issues were discussed about the intelligence, surveillance, and tech platforms that are deemed to be less capable of delivering needed competition in current times. The platforms that are less capable were recommended to be replaced by new and relevant systems.