NG Selling Global Hawk and other UAV's to Foreign Countries

The U.S.-made RQ-4 Global Hawk spy plane looks like an upside-down double-decker bus with wings, flies slowly, offers zero leg room -- and is one of the most coveted pieces of military technology in the world.

Impressed by its successes in combat for the U.S. Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan, countries around the globe are lining up to buy the unmanned "drone" aircraft to bolster their own intelligence abilities, despite concerns that exports might send sensitive technology into the wrong hands.

Some experts said the export of the planes could also heighten tensions with countries like China, Iran and Russia -- who could be the subject of closer observation and perceive the drones' operations as offensive threats.

Undaunted by such concerns, Northrop Grumman, the producer of the Global Hawk, just wrapped up an Asian tour in Tokyo with a full-sized mock-up and says that along with Japan other countries considering adding the plane to their air forces are South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Britain, Spain, New Zealand and Canada.

Germany has already contracted for a variant called the EuroHawk to be delivered this year.

"That you're going to see a lot more of these airplanes is the bottom line," said Curtis Orchard, vice president Japan for Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems. "There is still a `boutiquey' feeling now, but there is going to be widespread usage."