One of the most lethal and most silent unmanned aerial vehicles in the U.S Air Force’s arsenal, the Global Hawk has now witnessing a fundamental change in its role as a surveillance and strike aircraft, as this incredible machine designed and developed by Northrop Grumman, is now being used by NASA to collect and analyze atmospheric conditions over the Pacific and Arctic oceans.

This all new initiative called, GloPac or Global Hawk Pacific Program was initiated in the month of April this year and involved the packing of the Global Hawk with various scientific instruments and the UAV itself logged in 82.5 hours of flight time, where in it collected valuable environmental data from the Arctic Circle to just near the equator. The use of Global Hawk for such research projects has proved tobe highly successful, as due to the operational range and endurance of the UAV, the scientists were able to collect data including various weather phenomenon, that would have been nearly impossible to record in a conventional flight.

According to David Fahey (Research Physicist, NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory),

“The Global Hawk is a fantastic platform because it gives us expanded access to the atmosphere beyond what we have with piloted aircraft. We can go to regions we couldn’t reach or go to previously explored regions and study them for extended periods that are impossible with conventional planes.”

Via Gizmag