Posted 11/19/2006 10:08 PM ET

EnlargeBy Stacey Knott, U.S. Air Force
Avionics specialists prepare a Global Hawk for a runway taxi test at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. The aerial reconnaissance system is designed to provide military field commanders with imagery of large geographic areas. The Global Hawk is scheduled to begin flying at Beale on Monday.



BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — They've become a fixture in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, a new breed of unmanned aircraft operated with remote controls by ground-based "pilots" sitting in virtual cockpits many miles away.

But the Air Force's Global Hawk has never flown a mission over the USA. Until Monday.

The first domestic Global Hawk mission is scheduled from Beale Air Force Base in Northern California.

"This landmark flight has historic implications since it's the first time a Global Hawk has not only flown from Beale, but anywhere in the USA on an official Air Combat Command mission," Capt. Michael Andrews, base spokesman, said in a statement.

Beale-based pilots are flying the drones daily on combat missions in the Middle East, Andrews said. The aircraft, built by Northrop Grumman, are operated by four-person crews from virtual cockpits the size of shipping containers.

The planes are designed to fly at high altitudes for 40-hour missions covering as much as 10,000 miles, mostly providing aerial surveillance. The aircraft, which can cost more than $80 million each, can reach an altitude of 65,000 feet and send back real-time, high-resolution images.

The Global Hawk was designed to replace the 51-year-old U-2 spy plane, a single-pilot aircraft also based at Beale. Since the Global Hawk's development, design changes and costs overruns have hurt its progress, according to reports by the Pentagon and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

A Pentagon report released last week indicated the cost of the Global Hawk program is $1.7 billion — 21% — above the original $7.8 billion estimated cost of the program.

A GAO report earlier this year said the program had been restructured four times, leading to "serious cost and schedule problems."

The Hawks are among a growing fleet of drone aircraft that also includes missile-carrying Predators and 5-pound Ravens, which are small enough to be carried in servicemembers' backpacks.

Beale currently has two Block 10 Global Hawks and will have five more by 2009. It is currently the only U.S. military base with the drones. Eventually the Air Force's fleet will include 54 Global Hawks. Most will be based overseas.

Jag