With news daily it seems that some half crazed nation is threatening to cut off the US’s oil supply. Need for Naval defense is at an all time high. Protection of that defense is even more critical.
The Navy is testing a prototype of the as-yet-unnamed drone, referred to as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) system, is in action with the Navy’s 5th Fleet and, according to one naval expert, could help keep tabs on any Iranian threats to shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Speculation is that the Navy could be using a RQ-4 Global Hawk BAMS Demonstrator.
The Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV was intended to provide persistent, maritime surveillance and reconnaissance capability with worldwide access. The Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAV would be a multi-mission ISR system to support strike,
signals intelligence, and communications relay while operating independently or in direct collaboration with other assets in the maritime environment. BAMS would operate at altitudes over 40,000 feet, above the weather and most air traffic to conduct continuous open-ocean and littoral surveillance of targets as small as exposed submarine periscopes. BAMS would be fully integrated into the joint ISR architecture, providing the information to the joint force in near real time. Long-endurance BAMS UAVs would be able to provide a continuous on-station presence at ranges of 1000-3000 nautical miles from the launch point. BAMS would thus play a key role in providing the commander with a persistent, reliable picture of surface threats while minimizing the need to put manned assets in harms way to execute surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.
The first BAMS aircraft off the production line will make a maiden flight in June, with a target date on entering the service in 2015, according to its manufacturer, Northrop Grumman
Source: Military.com, Northrop Grumman, GlobalSecurity.org