Global Hawk UAV Sets 33-Hour Flight Endurance Record
RQ-4 Global Hawk set an endurance record for a full-scale, operational unmanned aircraft on Saturday, March 22, 2008, when it completed a flight of 33.1 hours at altitudes up to 60,000 feet over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Designated AF-8, the first Global Hawk Block 20, tail no. 04-2015, surpassed both the official and unofficial world un-refueled endurance records for operational unmanned airplanes previously held by the Block 10 variant.
To date, three Global Hawks are currently deployed in support of the global war on terrorism (GWOT), logging more than 15,700 combat hours with more than 21,000 total program flight hours and 95 percent mission effectiveness.
As the world’s first fully autonomous HALE unmanned aerial system providing persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to warfighters, the Global Hawk is designed to fly up to 65,000 feet for more than 35 hours and see through any inclement weather at any time.
Global Hawks are flown in four locations across the globe: Beale Air Force Base, home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the RQ-4’s main operating base, near Sacramento, Calif.; Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California; Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland; and in support of the GWOT.
