3 Reasons This Is the Worst Time for a Global Hawk UAV Crash

June 11, 2012 5:00 PM Text Size: A . A . A A Navy Global Hawk unmanned aircraft crashed today during a training exercise in a swampy area of Maryland, and it couldn't come at a worse time for promoters of the unmanned surveillance aircraft. The aircraft was one of five the Navy bought as part of its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator program, which is supposed to complement the Navy's manned aircraft fleet. While there are no details yet on what caused the crash of the 44-foot Global Hawk and no one was injured, there are plenty of reasons for the Navy to curse the timing:

1. It steals the thunder from the public debut of the naval Global Hawk.

Later this week, Northrop Grumman is scheduled to unveil in California its first MQ-4C, the maritime version of the Global Hawk?the same variant of aircraft as the one that crashed today. While similar in many respects to the Air Force version of the aircraft, the naval Global Hawk variant is equipped with two unique radar: a Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) that provides a 360-degree panoramic picture of the ocean below, and a "due regard" radar that will help provide sense-and-avoid capabilities for the unmanned aircraft. With today's crash, the Navy has only four Global Hawks left.

2. There's a looming battle on the Hill.

While the Global Hawk was slated to replace the aging manned U-2 aircraft by 2015, that timetable has been delayed because of the unmanned aircraft's rising costs. It turns out that it's cheaper, at least right now, to continue to operate the U-2. And in an age of fiscal austerity, cost matters. The Global Hawk "priced itself out of the niche," Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said earlier this year.

The Pentagon shocked many observers when it decided to scrap plans to replace its U-2 aircraft with a fleet of Global Hawks, effectively sending the unmanned aircraft to an early retirement. The House version of the defense bill tried to keep the program alive, but the Senate last month sided with the Pentagon in its plan to retire the Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft. The conflict will now have to be resolved in conference.

3. In the meantime, the U-2 is getting a public boost.

This week Capt. Francis Gary Powers, was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, will be posthumously awarded a silver star. The award is good publicity for the U-2, which so recently seemed to be headed to the boneyard to make way for Global Hawks. It's also a not-so-subtle reminder that the Air Force is still attached to pilots and manned aircraft.

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