Beale Airmen, ISR assets provide support for Southern California wildfires

  • Published
  • 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 9th Reconnaissance Wing's U-2 Dragon Lady and RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft are collecting high-altitude imagery of the wildfires in Southern California in support of the U.S. Air Force Northern Command's mission there.

A Beale U-2 from Beale flew a 6-hour mission Oct. 24 and a Global Hawk will provide additional support, scheduled to take off Oct. 25 at approximately 4 p.m. and fly through the night.

The imagery collected by these aircraft is being used to provide humanitarian support to the region affected. Additionally it is used to determine the current status of the fires. According to Brig. Gen. James Poss, Air Combat Command director of intelligence, the technology of the Global Hawk contributes significantly to the information collected on the California fires.

In fact, this is the first time the Global Hawk has been used domestically, said General Poss. The aircraft has been tested domestically, but this is the first civil emergency it has flown in. He added that it's the Air Force's largest, most-capable unmanned aerial vehicle.

"The Global Hawk has very capable infrared sensors that can pick up heat source of the fire," he said. "It should see through a considerable amount of smoke to be able to identify the real source of the fires to our firefighters." The ability to produce an image without the smoke is an advantage absent in digital satellite imagery.

The Global Hawk can also use radar to produce a near photographic image, originally designed to be used at night to produce a daylight-like image. General Poss said he hopes the technological capabilities of the Global Hawk will help make a detailed prediction of where the fire might go.

Because the Global Hawk is unmanned, the pilots are actually flying it from the ground at Beale.

According to Brig. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, 9th RW commander, the operators, maintainers and intelligence Airmen are the people who make Beal's support possible.

"Team Beale has provided humanitarian support in the past," he said. "Our Airmen remain trained and prepared to help our neighbors of southern California in any way possible."