In accordance with the US Missile Defence Agency's (MDA) Request for Information (RFI) issued in June for a high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a high-energy laser, Northrop Grumman plans to modernize its RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The HALE programme requires a minimum altitude of 63 thousand feet and a payload capacity between 2,270-5,670 kg. 

Northrop revealed to FlightGlobal that the company was looking at opportunities to work with both the USAF and MDA to reduce the RQ-4’s weight and bridge the altitude gap.