# RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base: deployment

Canonical ID: `8b0c62e5-4f95-4012-93ab-eef72e15da0b`

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_

- **Slug:** global-hawk-usaf-beale-afb
- **Status:** operational
- **Model:** [RQ-4 Global Hawk](/models/global-hawk.md) (id: `97fe3809-c0d7-420b-883c-dda8bead336c`)
- **Company:** [Northrop Grumman](/companies/northrop-grumman-uav.md) (id: `2e3e28f2-b76d-4702-8d6d-01572faaa4b3`)
- **Location:** [Beale Air Force Base](/locations/california/beale-afb-california.md) (id: `ef5df2ef-e287-434b-a328-36bbe14e9b25`)
- **Operator:** [United States Air Force](/companies/us-air-force.md) (id: `b271aba9-ecbd-417b-8e19-53152d14641b`)
- **First seen:** 2004-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

## Verification log (0, append-only)

_No verifications recorded._

## Sources (2)

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

## 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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