Cruise missiles and unmanned spy aircraft with San Diego pedigrees were among the first weapons used in last week’s air strikes on Afghanistan.
Jane’s Aerospace reported that at least one Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, developed in San Diego by Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector, was used to gather intelligence before the air strikes, then evaluate battle damage.
The Global Hawk “has been rushed from its development phase into becoming one of the U.S.-led coalition’s most valuable reconnaissance assets,” Jane’s reported Oct. 8.
A company statement from June said Northrop Grumman , the successor company to Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical , was working on the Global Hawk in San Diego and Palmdale.
Meanwhile, unmanned aircraft built by cross-town San Diego competitor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., also have been gathering intelligence over Afghanistan.
Published reports said the company’s Predator and Gnat models had been taking in the situation in Afghanistan during the weeks leading up to the strikes.
Several models of unmanned aircraft, or drones, are flown by remote control by pilots on the ground. The drones carry cameras and other sophisticated sensing devices, then relay the data they pick up back to U.S. commanders.
The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems products differ from those produced by Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems Sector.
“Global Hawk is complimentary to the Predator. They do not do the same work,” said a spokeswoman from Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in a June interview.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk is jet-powered. It is a high-altitude, long endurance aircraft. The reference book “Jane’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Targets” estimates the craft can loiter in an area at 50,000 to 65,000 feet.
The RQ-1 Predator and its variants are propeller-driven. The Predator flies at lower altitudes; Jane’s set its ceiling at 26,000 feet.
The Air Force has also been testing the Predator’s ability to launch missiles. The Wright-Patterson spokeswoman said in June that there was no plan to “weaponize” Global Hawk.
Other locally built drones used by the Defense Department include the Fire Scout, a helicopter-like craft also built by Northrop Grumman.
There is also the RQ-5 Hunter, an airplane-like drone, built by TRW. According to one account, the craft is now out of production.
One important weapons system being used in Afghanistan has a San Diego lineage , the Tomahawk cruise missile.
Though the missile used today is built by Raytheon Systems Co. of Tucson, Ariz., it was originally designed and built at General Dynamics’ Kearny Mesa plant.
The missile can be launched from a ship or a submarine, and uses both a solid-fuel rocket booster and a turbofan engine.
It flies at low altitude over an evasive route, using several guidance systems, to deliver a 1,000-pound bomb or several smaller bombs.
“Block III” Tomahawks built in 1994 and after contain global positioning system technology. Raytheon reports on its Web site that it is remanufacturing hundreds of Tomahawks to a Block III configuration.
A fourth version of the missile, called Tactical Tomahawk, should enter service in 2003.
Raytheon and Navy Web sites note the new Tomahawk will feature battle damage assessment, in-flight retargeting, loitering capability and mission planning from the launch platform.
Representatives of the builders declined comment on their programs last week.
The Pentagon, in fact, has warned its defense contractors that in the wartime climate, they should be discreet in giving information to the press.
