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In October 2003, the Air Force demonstrated Global Hawk's capabilities to the German Ministry of Defence (MoD) in northern Germany. Following a ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to Nordholz, Germany, a Block 10 Global Hawk equipped with an EADS electronic intelligence (ELINT) sensor prototype performed a series of flight demonstrations over a six-week deployment.
In January 2007, the German MoD awarded a $559 million contract to EuroHawk GmbH, a joint-venture company formed by Northrop Grumman and EADS, for the development, test and support of the Euro Hawk® unmanned signals intelligence (SIGINT) surveillance and reconnaissance system. With a wing span larger than a commercial airliner's, the Euro Hawk® UAS will serve as the German Air Force's HALE SIGINT system.
The Euro Hawk® is a derivative of the Block 20 Global Hawk, equipped with a new SIGINT mission system developed by EADS. The SIGINT system provides stand-off capability to detect ELINT radar emitters and communications intelligence emitters. EADS will also provide the ground stations that will receive and analyze the data from Euro Hawk® as part of an integrated system solution. A joint team will conduct integration and flight test activity in Germany in late 2009.
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