An RQ-4 Global Hawk speeds down the runway for takeoff Oct. 24, 2018, at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily. An RQ-4 landed in England this week for temporary deployment, following a nearly 24-hour flight from Italy. (Ramon Adelan/U.S. Air Force)
A remotely piloted American military surveillance and reconnaissance airplane is making its first appearance in England on a temporary deployment.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk landed at RAF Fairford on Thursday, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa said in a statement the following day.
The maiden flight to England is part of the command’s efforts to expand operations alongside NATO allies, the statement said.
The plane will “conduct operations through international and allied airspace,” USAFE-AFAFRICA said.
The RQ-4 flew nearly 24 hours from Sigonella, Sicily, traversing much of Eastern Europe and Finland before flying west across Sweden and Norway and down into England, Aviation Week reported.
Large crowds were gathered at the end of the runway to see it land at about 10:30 p.m. local time, according to Aviation Week.
Naval Air Station Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily hosts NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance main operating base, which manages five RQ-4D Phoenix Global Hawks.
The airplane can fly at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, gathering high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather, day or night and nearly in real time, according to manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
