Raytheon Co. will support onboard sensors and ground-control systems used by the U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft fleet as part of a $65 million subcontract from aircraft manufacturer and business partner Northrop Grumman.
Cybersecurity experts from Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS) will perform the work around the world and will include software upgrades to defend against cyber threats.
“Raytheon will help these unmanned aircraft meet tomorrow’s threats,” Todd Probert, Raytheon IIS vice president of Mission Support and Modernization, said. “We have been improving the Global Hawk fleet’s capabilities for 20 years by modernizing their ground and sensor systems and will now ensure their resiliency in the face of cyber threats.”
In August, Raytheon was awarded a $104 million contract effort to modernize the Global Hawk ground segment. Work includes modernizing ground controls to enhance capabilities, safety and cybersecurity and moving payload and aircraft operators into mission control buildings.
The buildings, to be located at Beale and Grand Forks Air Force Bases, will allow the Air Force the ability to add mission payloads and platforms in the future.
Northrop Grumman built the Global Hawk, a high-altitude, long-endurance platform used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.