File:010513-N-FF838-007 -- EXERCISE TANDEM THRUST 2001, ADELAIDE, Australia -- The Global Hawk is prepared after preflight checks for its twenty four hour mission out of Edinburgh Air Force Base in Adelaide, South 010513-N-FF838-007.jpg

English: 010513-N-FF838-007 -- EXERCISE TANDEM THRUST 2001, ADELAIDE, Australia -- The Global Hawk is prepared after preflight checks for its twenty four hour mission out of Edinburgh Air Force Base in Adelaide, South Australia, in support of Exercise Tandem Thrust. The Global Hawk is a jet powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) designed as a Reconnaissance and Surveillance vehicle with a wing span equal to a Boeing 737, flying at altitudes of up to 65,000 feet for more than 24 hours and capable of searching an area of more than 40,000 square miles. The Global Hawk is deployed to Australia from April to June 2001, flying more than a dozen missions. These missions will include sorties in support of Tandem Thrust as well as maritime, littoral, land surveillance and stand off reconnaissance capabilities. The Global Hawk completed its first successful maiden flight in February 1998. Currently there are five U.S. Air Force Global Hawks which have logged over 60 flights and have clocked more than 600 hours, with its biggest challenge to date the non-stop Trans-Pacific flight from Edwards AFB CA to Edinburgh AFB South Australia. Exercise Tandem Thrust 2001 is a combined United States and Australian military training exercise. This biennial exercise is beingheld in the vicinity of Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia. More than 27,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are participating, with Canadian units taking part as opposing forces. The purpose of Exercise Tandem Thrust is to trainfor crisis action planning and execution of contingency response operations. Photograph CLEARDED FOR RELEASE by Lt. Col .Pat Bolibrzuch, Australian Deployment Commander, Global Hawk Program Office and Wing Commander Brett Newell, Deputy Director Emerging Systems, Aerospace Development Branch. U.S. Navy Photo by PH3 J. Smith (Released)