Today in Palmdale, California (USA), Northrop Grumman and its industry partners together with NAGSMA leaders and NAGSMO Chairman unveiled the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Aircraft. The unmanned aircraft, a wide area surveillance Global Hawk, is part of a broader system of systems solution that will advance the Alliance's evolving ISR needs during a full range of NATO's missions such as protection of ground troops and civilian populations, border control and maritime safety, the fight against terrorism, crisis management and humanitarian assistance in natural disasters.
This marks a significant step forward in achieving NATO's goal of acquiring NATO-owned and operated AGS Core Capability," said Erling Wang, chairman of the NATO AGS Management Organization (NAGSMO).
The industries of the 15 participating nations (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States), are each contributing to the delivery of the AGS system.
"All 28 Alliance nations will take part in the long-term support of the program. We are establishing the necessary ground stations, command and control systems, and training and logistics support services at the NATO AGS main operating base at Sigonella Air Base in Italy," stated Jim Edge, general manager of the NATO AGS Management Agency (NAGSMA).
