Via their joint venture EuroHawk GmbH, Military Air Systems (MAS) and its US partner Northrop Grumman are developing a high-altitude reconnaissance system for SIGINT (SIGnals INTelligence) tasks, modified and specially equipped to national requirements of the German customer. This is based on the Global Hawk RQ4-B high-altitude UAV produced by Northrop Grumman and is equipped with a technically advanced SIGINT mission system from EADS. The SIGINT system provides stand-off capability to detect radar emitters (electronic intelligence / ELINT mission) and communications emitters (communication intelligence / COMINT mission). EADS will also provide the ground stations that will receive and analyse the data from Euro Hawk® as part of an integrated system solution for the German customer.
EuroHawk GmbH, which is headquartered in Friedrichshafen, bears system responsibility for the German version and acts as the national contracting party vis-à-vis the German government. On 31 January 2007, EuroHawk GmbH and the Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement signed the development contract for a Euro Hawk® demonstrator system. Delivery of this demonstrator is scheduled for 2011 with a follow-on contract for the adaptation and delivery of four (4) additional Euro Hawk platforms with operational capability scheduled between 2015 and 2016. The Euro Hawk® systems will replace the aging fleet of Breguet Atlantic aircraft (in service since 1972) in the SIGINT mission.
