Raytheon has been awarded a subcontract for support services of the ground station elements of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

Under the $24.7m deal, the company will provide field support services to the mission control and launch and recovery elements for ten Global Hawk ground stations, which are deployed globally and operate at domestic and international locations.

The Global Hawk UAS, supported by Raytheon’s ground station, provides high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance capabilities valuable in military, humanitarian and environmental missions.

The aircraft has participated in several missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya as well as in providing detailed high-resolution imagery from the Japan earthquake.