SAN DIEGO, July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force
RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft program was officially awarded
the 2012 Dr. James G. Roche Sustainment Excellence Award during a
ceremony June 7 at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is the prime contractor
for the high-flying fleet of Global Hawks.
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Presented by Gen. Mark A. Welsh
III, Air Force chief of staff, the Global Hawk team received
the coveted award for demonstrating superior improved performance
in aircraft maintenance and logistics readiness from October 2011 through September 2012.
"During this period, the Global Hawk has made significant
improvements in aircraft availability, mission capability and total
nonmission capability for maintenance and supply in support of
worldwide operations," said Welsh. "In addition, the team
simultaneously fielded an additional seven Global Hawks and
implemented two key reliability and maintainability initiatives
that have made significant impacts. This would not have been
possible without the hard work, professionalism and commitment of
the men and women of the Global Hawk program."
The Global Hawk has been in high demand with warfighters, flying
more than 13,400 hours last year and approximately 94,000 total
flight hours to date. The Global Hawk's mission-capable rate rose
from approximately 52 percent in fiscal year 2011 to nearly 78
percent in 2012, and has now exceeded the Air Force's goal for 24
consecutive months.
Air Force officials determined the award winner by calculating
the improvements for a predetermined set of metrics and multiplying
each metric by a corresponding weighted value.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation