Northrop places order for Hunter II

Date: 17 May 2005

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Northrop Grumman Corporation has placed a purchase order with Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Va., to produce the company's first Hunter II unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

“The order for this unmanned aircraft, which will serve as a test and demonstration system, reflects our commitment to the medium-altitude endurance UAV market,” Northrop Grumman affirmed. “It will also help mature the manufacturing processes needed to ensure that we can respond quickly and cost-effectively to emerging UAV requirements for military and commercial customers.”

Hunter II is Northrop Grumman's offering for the U.S. Army's current Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) UAV competition. If the company wins the competition, Aurora Flight Sciences will manufacture Hunter II ER/MP air vehicles in Starkville. A US Army decision on the ER/MP winner is expected by the end of May.

Hunter II is a twin-boom, autonomous UAV that builds on the legacy of the Northrop Grumman family of Hunter UAVs. It is designed to operate at altitudes up to 28,500 feet and conduct missions up to thirty hours long. The air vehicle features a sensor suite that includes electro-optical/infrared and synthetic aperture radar systems; software architecture capable of easily accommodating new payloads and data-handling requirements;avionics; a weapons capability and a communications system that provides for the rapid relaying of data among other UAVs, including those over the horizon. The Hunter II also features a single, heavy-fuel engine and a fully automatic take-off and landing system.

Aurora Flight Sciences currently produces nearly one third of the fuselage for the US Air Force's Global Hawk aerial reconnaissance system, which was designed and developed by Northrop Grumman. In April, they delivered the first aft fuselage for a new, larger and more capable version of Global Hawk called RQ-8B.