What is the RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment at Beale Air Force Base?

RQ-4 Global Hawk, built by Northrop Grumman, is recorded as a deployment at Beale Air Force Base on the DEPLOY registry. United States Air Force operates the deployment.

Who operates RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base?

United States Air Force operates this deployment as a customer of Northrop Grumman, the manufacturer of RQ-4 Global Hawk.

When did the RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment at Beale Air Force Base go live?

The deployment is recorded as starting January 1, 2004 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.

Have there been incidents at the RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment at Beale Air Force Base?

No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

Deployment

RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base

Name: RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base
Start: 2004-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Beale Air Force Base

High-altitude long-endurance reconnaissance UAV. 30+ hour endurance, 60,000 ft altitude, all-weather ISR platform. US and NATO operator.

RQ-4 Global Hawk by Northrop Grumman · Operated by United States Air Force · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified

Track RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base

Machine-readable surfaces

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JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
REST API: /v1/robots/8b0c62e5-4f95-4012-93ab-eef72e15da0b
Data documentation: /data
Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP

The United States Air Force 9th Reconnaissance Wing (9 RW) at Beale Air Force Base, Yuba County, California is the primary Global Hawk operating unit. The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (12 RS) at Beale became the first operational Global Hawk unit; Initial Operational Capability for the Block 10 RQ-4A variant was declared in 2004. As of 2024 the USAF operates ~30 RQ-4B Block 30/40 aircraft from Beale and its forward operating locations. The 548th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group at Beale processes and exploits Global Hawk imagery. The aircraft has conducted persistent wide-area ISR from Beale across Middle East, Indo-Pacific, and European theaters.

Key facts

Primary unit: 9th Reconnaissance Wing (9 RW), 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (12 RS), Beale AFB
Variant: RQ-4B Block 30/40; ~30 aircraft in USAF inventory as of 2024
IOC: 2004 (Block 10 RQ-4A); Block 30 from ~2011
Altitude / endurance: 60,000 ft; 34-hour on-station

Trust tier: Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified
Last updated: 2026-06-12
Model: RQ-4 Global Hawk
Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: California/Beale Air Force Base
Operator: United States Air Force
Status: operational
First seen: 2004-01-01
ID: 8b0c62e5-4f95-4012-93ab-eef72e15da0b

Sources (2)

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104516/rq-4-global-hawk/ · 2023-01-01
https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/air/global-hawk/ · 2023-01-01

Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-12

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-12

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: aerial

Sources by quality tier

2: primary-company-ir; Company IR disclosure

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Common questions

What is the RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment at Beale Air Force Base?: RQ-4 Global Hawk, built by Northrop Grumman, is recorded as a deployment at Beale Air Force Base on the DEPLOY registry. United States Air Force operates the deployment.
Who operates RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base?: United States Air Force operates this deployment as a customer of Northrop Grumman, the manufacturer of RQ-4 Global Hawk.
When did the RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment at Beale Air Force Base go live?: The deployment is recorded as starting January 1, 2004 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment at Beale Air Force Base?: No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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