Northrop Grumman RQ-4E EuroHawk

Northrop Grumman · United States · first flew 2010 · reconnaissance aircraft

The RQ-4E EuroHawk was a German signals-intelligence variant of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, developed for the German Air Force to replace ageing Breguet Atlantic SIGINT aircraft.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × turbofan, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	single engine above the rear fuselage, exhausting between the two canted fins of a V-tail
T — Tail	V-tail

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

long slender straight wing shared with the US RQ-4 Global Hawk
bulbous nose fairing housing German SIGINT sensor equipment
single engine above the rear fuselage, exhausting between the two canted fins of a V-tail

Externally near-identical to the US RQ-4 Global Hawk, with the same long straight wing and bulbous nose, distinguishable in practice only by German-specific sensor fairings.

Specifications

The Northrop Grumman RQ-4E EuroHawk has a length of 14.5 m (48 ft).
It has a wingspan of 39.9 m (131 ft).
Typical crew: 0 (remotely piloted).

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

First flown in 2010, the programme paired a US-built Global Hawk airframe with a German-developed SIGINT sensor system, but was cancelled in 2013 before series production due to concerns over certifying an unmanned aircraft in European airspace.

Variants

Only a single full-scale demonstrator aircraft was built and flown before the programme's cancellation.

Where you'll see it

The sole EuroHawk airframe was retired to a German museum after the programme ended; it never entered operational service and had no UK role.

Related aircraft

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