NATO and Northrop Grumman signed a contract for Ground Surveillance System with RQ-4 UAS 2105121.

The contract included NATO's procurement of five Block 40 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft equipped with an advanced ground surveillance radar sensor as well as the associated command and control base stations.

The system, which will be operated and maintained by NATO in 2015-2017, will enable the alliance to perform persistent surveillance over the situation on the ground and provide support for a broad range of missions, including protecting ground forces, border and maritime security, counterterrorism, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and natural disaster relief.

This system has been a major acquisition priority for NATO and "the real-time long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that this will provide will be valuable to NATO forces around the world," said Otfried Wohlleben, Program Manager of NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Management Agency (NAGSMA).