The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $302.9 million contract for five RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Under the contract, the company will build two Block 30 systems and three Block 40 systems for the 303d Aeronautical Systems Group at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. The award also includes a ground station consisting of a launch and recovery element and a mission control element, plus two additional sensor suites that will be retrofitted into previous production aircraft. The contract runs through 2011. The company will deliver in 2010 the two Block 30 aircraft equipped with the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS) that provides electro-optical/infrared and synthetic aperture radar imaging capabilities. These aircraft will also be retrofitted to incorporate the production Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload. The Lot 7 contract also includes the first production Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program payloads, which will be contractually awarded later this year.