At a joint news conference today Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Errol McCormack and Dr. Roger Lough, First Assistant Secretary Science Policy in DSTO, announced "all systems were go" for the historic journey that will see Global Hawk fly non-stop from Edwards Air Force base in California to the RAAF base Edinburgh in South Australia.

Air Marshal McCormack said he is particularly excited that Australia has the opportunity to explore this new technology in the context of our regional needs.

"The Air Force is currently reviewing, as part of Project Air 6000, the replacements for F/A-18 and F-111 fleets and it is highly possible that our future capability could well include UAVs such as Global Hawk," he said.

Air Marshal McCormack said Global Hawk�s deployment to Australia is an integral part of the combined US and Australian military training exercise, Tandem Thrust, that will be conducted in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland in May.

He said the deployment also coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the ANZUS Alliance between Australia and the United States and reinforces the strong defence links between Australia and the US.

Dr. Lough said the deployment of Global Hawk is an opportunity to examine new technologies in an Australian operating environment and test the performance of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for surveillance purposes.

"DSTO has assisted in developing new maritime and littoral surveillance capabilities that will allow Global Hawk to more efficiently search large areas to detect and classify maritime targets," he said.

Global Hawk had its first successful maiden flight in February 1998. Five pilotless aircraft have since made over 70 flights including one across the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Portugal and return. However, Lt. Col. Lange of the United States Air Force, said the trans-Pacific flight to Australia would be Global Hawk�s longest and most challenging.

Speaking from Edinburgh Air Force base Lt.Col. Lange said mission controllers and weather forecasters based on the ground in Australia and the United States will monitor the flight of the aircraft via satellite. He said the journey is expected to take about 22 hours.

Global Hawk will be in Australia till 7 June for United States Air Force (USAF), RAAF and Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) personnel to evaluate the aircraft and its systems during a dozen missions over various parts of the continent and maritime approaches.

The missions will include sorties in support of the Tandem Thrust military exercise off the eastern coast of Australia and over Australia�s Top End from Cape York to the northwest coast including Darwin.

The Air Force Chief also launched a special commemorative postage stamp to mark the inaugural trans-Pacific flight to Australia by Global Hawk.

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