UAV - Kanselleringen av Euro Hawk

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Euro Hawk Cancellation will not Affect NATO Global Hawk Programme

Posted on May 28, 2013 by The Editor

The cancelled German Euro Hawk  project will most likely not have consequences on a similar project by NATO. The alliance plans to use five Global Hawk Block 40 type for its “Alliance Ground Surveillance” (AGS) system.

According to NATO, plans will not be affected by the German decision. The Global Hawk built by US company Northrop Grumman is basically the version the system is based on – the Euro Hawk that Germany ordered is a modified version of the Global Hawk 20 model, an earlier version of the Global Hawk 40 which NATO now plans to use.

At the May 2012 summit in Chicago, the allies had agreed on aquiring unarmed surveillance aircraft. They are scheduled to be used by 2017 and to be stationed in Sicily. Estimates put the cost for the five aircraft at around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

Fourteen NATO states are involved: Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the US. The Global Hawk can fly as high as 20 kilometers (12 miles) and is able to take clear pictures of the ground even from such heights – precise enough to still spot individuals.

The NATO project is going to continue despite the German decision to halt its programme. But the situation in Germany has been met with criticism in Brussels. Michael Gahler, security spokesman of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) in the EU parliament, told DW that Germany should rather have pushed for a European solution than trying to go it alone.