California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

The U.S. Navy lent their RQ-4 Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV to the state
of California last month for use in monitoring the progress of massive forest and brush fires
in the northern part of the state. The RQ-4 stayed in the air for nearly 24 hours, using its
powerful sensors to send detailed images to those managing the effort to fight the fires.

The video and still images an RQ-4 generates are transmitted via satellite to the ground, and
can easily be put onto an Internet connection. This makes it easy to get the images to the
people running the disaster relief. In effect, the RQ-4 is like having a photo-satellite overhead
all the time.

It's not unusual for the military to contribute personnel or other resources to civilian disasters,
including forest fires. But the RQ-4 was unique in that the Navy is still testing this version of
Global Hawk, which is equipped for maritime patrol.

The Navy has found that participating in disaster relief efforts is very beneficial. First, the people
being helped appreciate it and second it is excellent public relations. But the sailors and marines
involved get useful experience operating in intense and often extreme circumstances as was the
case with the wildfires in the state.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.