February 17 2006 -- EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The Edwards flightline is the landing site for Prototype Global Hawk Air Vehicle No. 3, an unmanned aircraft that has flown 4,245 hours in support of combat operations for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the Combined Task Force-Horn of Africa mission.

This event marks the end of a four-year deployment of a valuable contributor to the Global War on Terrorism and paves the way for the future of unmanned aircraft systems. Through the lethal combination of technology in the sky and the experienced operators on the ground, this prototype was able to survey vast geographical areas and provide pinpoint accuracy about enemy locations.

Edwards is hosting a press conference to welcome home the aircraft on Monday, Feb. 20. Scheduled landing time is 11 a.m. PST. This time and date may change for weather conditions, please call (661) 277-5503 to confirm.

Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, Air Force Flight Test Center commander; Randy Brown, Director, Global Hawk Systems Group; Gary Ervin, Sector Vice President, Northrop-Grumman Integrated Systems Western Region, and Maj. Mike Lyons, Global Hawk pilot and Chief of Standardization and Evaluation, 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, Beale AFB, will all be speaking. Media will be able to view and take pictures of the aircraft landing as well as get a first-hand view of the ground control station.

Media need to be at the west gate of Edwards at 9 a.m., have proof of affiliation and two forms of identification, and will be bused to the location.

U.S. media interested in attending are asked to contact Edwards Public Affairs at (661) 277-5503, no later than 5 p.m. PST on Saturday .