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Introduction
Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) developed by the US Defense Department and built by Northrop Grumman
Ryan Aeronautical Center (NGRAC) for the US Air Force (USAF) to undertake
reconnaissance missions. The US authorities signed an agreement in 1999
with Australia's Defence Science & Technology Organisation (DSTO),
part of the Department of Defence, to jointly study surveillance operations
using the Global Hawk system and test the new technology during a flight
from the USA to Australia.
Global Hawk can fly
autonomously for 36 hours at altitudes up to 65,000 feet (nearly twice
the height used by commercial airliners). Its sensors can image an area
twice the size of Tasmania (40,000 square miles) in just 24 hours, no
matter what the weather condition, and relay the imagery with startling
clarity in near real time to battlefield commanders.
Global Hawk vehicle
no. 5 was deployed to Australia from 24 April to 7 June 2001 to participate
in a series of test flights and the biennial Australian-US exercise Tandem
Thrust 2001. Global Hawk completed the first trans-Pacific non-stop flight
by a pilotless aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base California to the
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Edinburgh (South Australia) in
23 hours and 23 minutes, setting a Guinness World Record for "the
longest flight ever by a full-scale unmanned aircraft."
Defence was tasked
with conducting a communications campaign for Global Hawk's Australian
deployment. The Australian stakeholders (Department of Defence, DSTO,
RAAF) and the US stakeholders (USAF, NGRAC) were keen to get maximum exposure
from the deployment. The US players were interested in publicising their
technology and marketing the aircraft to Australia.
Research
Past surveys of community attitudes towards Defence had shown:
- Scepticism that
Australia has the modern equipment and technology it needs for national
defence; and
- Concern over the
need and cost required to effectively patrol Australia's large coastline.
Situation
Analysis
The Global Hawk deployment was a good opportunity to address these findings
and promote Australia's scientific contribution to cutting edge technology.
There was a strong possibility that Defence would purchase such an aircraft
if it tested favourably in Australian conditions.
Public consultation
for the recent Defence White Paper had endorsed the need for Defence to
maintain the knowledge edge in intelligence and surveillance capabilities.
Popular support was also considered necessary because of public dissatisfaction
with the continuing influx of illegal boat people (8318 illegals intercepted
in the past two financial years). Global Hawk was seen as a technology
watchdog for monitoring Australia's coastline and sea approaches to prevent
people smuggling, drug trafficking and illegal fishing.
Goals
and Objectives
The Global Hawk deployment gave Defence a chance to:
- capture the imagination
of the Australian public about the role of UAVs,
- showcase Australia's
significant involvement in a high-technology undertaking, and
- reinforce Australian-US
defence collaboration, especially during the 50th anniversary of the
ANZUS Treaty.
The communication
goals were to:
- Promote greater
domestic and international public awareness of the capabilities and
possible future application of UAVs in general, and the Global Hawk
system in particular.
- Promote public
confidence in Defence by highlighting Australia's military and technical
capabilities to execute a complex, high-technology project.
- Enhance the reputation
of all stakeholders involved in the Global Hawk project with political
and Defence leaders, the Defence community, government
decision-makers and the Australian, US and other international publics.
- Enhance the relationship
between Australia and the United States through positive collaboration
in the communications aspects of the Global Hawk deployment.
Target
Publics
Primary
Prime
Minister and cabinet ministers; Minister for Defence and his staff; General
Public, especially those not usually interested in Defence issues; Chief
of the Defence Force; Secretary of the Department of Defence and senior
Defence bureaucrats, particularly the Defence Materiel Organisation (which
is responsible for Defence purchases); Australian Defence Force; Customs
and Immigration; and national and international media.
Secondary
Civil Aviation
Safety Authority; Fisheries Department; and Coastwatch.
Communication
Strategy
1.
Position the Global Hawk deployment as a significant opportunity to evaluate
its contribution to Australia's defence capabilities by capturing community
imagination and leveraging the deployment by linking it to past historical
events.
2. Use the media to reach a much broader community audience not generally
interested in Defence issues.
3. Promote the cooperative role between the RAAF, DSTO, USAF and NGRAC
in the operational and scientific aspects of the Global Hawk project by
ensuring that all information is coming from a single source.
4. Maximise exposure of the deployment through a range of specifically
targeted media activities, special events and a dedicated website. (See
article
in Air Force News)
Adding
the Australian flavour
The
campaign's key message focused on the value added by Australian scientists
to enhance Global Hawk's capabilities, making it more suitable for its
surveillance tasks in the Australian environment.
Global Hawk was originally
designed as a reconnaissance system for land operations whereas Australia
requires a more sophisticated maritime surveillance system. DSTO significantly
redesigned Global Hawk's sensor suite so that it could detect moving targets
easily and precisely while searching large areas more efficiently. DSTO
also developed a ground station which integrated with the Global Hawk
system and allowed Australian scientists to analyse and disseminate sensor
data (imagery) in near real time.
These technological
improvements were highlighted in the campaign to underline the message
that Australian defence scientists could mix it with the best when working
with international partners on cutting edge technology.
Australian
angle
To provide an Australian angle, Global Hawk's trans-Pacific crossing was
compared to the 1928 San Francisco-to-Sydney flight by Australian aviator
Charles Kingsford-Smith and his American colleagues flying the three-engine
Southern Cross. At the suggestion of the communication team, the
Pentagon re-badged Global Hawk as Southern Cross II for its Australian
deployment. The press ran with the theme in the lead-up to the deployment.
Implementation
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Defense
Minister talks to media during VIP day.
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The first step in
the communications effort was to develop a communications plan in consultation
with the Australian and US stakeholders.
A crisis management
plan was also prepared to minimise negative coverage in case of a mishap
with a pilotless aircraft flying in civil air space. In the US two accidents
had occurred during previous test flights. The strategy was to respond
openly and frankly if negative issues were raised and all spokespersons
were comprehensively briefed.
Major activities of
the deployment included:
- Display at
the Australian International Air Show Avalon (February 2001) Global
Hawk was the centrepiece of the DSTO exhibit, serving as a teaser for
the deployment campaign.
- Media Conference
on eve of take-off from California (20 April) At this Canberra conference
the Chief of the Australian Air Force and DSTO's First Assistant Secretary
(Science Policy) officially announce the deployment, with a video link
to South Australia to wish the deployment team good luck.
- Media during
take-off from California (22 April) At Edwards Air Force Base in
California Australian and US media turn out to witness the take-off.
- Media during
landing at RAAF Base Edinburgh (23 April)
Despite the late evening, teams of camera-wielding Australian and international
media representatives watch Global Hawk touch down 15 minutes ahead
of schedule. Parliamentary Secretary to the Defence Minister makes a
statement to the media, generating headlines for early morning news.
- Media Day (24
April) A media conference the next day is addressed by the Parliamentary
Secretary and representatives from USAF, RAAF, DSTO and NGRAC. Media
get a close-up look at the aircraft. Earlier in the morning Channel
9's Today Show broadcasts from the site.
- VIP Day (18
May) The Minister for Defence presides over a media conference also
attended by senior military personnel, business leaders from USA and
Australia, and politicians. They get to view the aircraft returning
from one of its sorties. Minister releases an image of Adelaide and
announces that funds have been allocated to invest in a suitable UAV.
- Science Lecture
during National Science Week (5 May)
DSTO scientist addresses a paying audience of 120 people on Australia's
contribution to the Global Hawk project.
- Southern Cross
photo opportunity
A replica of Kingsford-Smith's Southern Cross is retrieved from the
museum and placed alongside the Global Hawk Southern Cross II for a
photo opportunity. Media attend the event.
- Website
A dedicated website went live a few weeks before take-off with background
information on Global Hawk and the Australian deployment, pre-recorded
interviews with DSTO and RAAF/USAF personnel and hot links to the sites
of the major stakeholders. On the day of the flight the progress of
the journey was tracked in real time on the web. Information was constantly
refreshed with news releases and transcripts of media coverage. As Global
Hawk captured new images, they were posted on the site.
To sustain public
interest in the deployment, images of important Australian landmarks taken
by Global Hawk from over 55,000 feet were released at regular intervals
to the media. Most newspapers ran these images (of Parliament House in
Canberra, Sydney Olympics Stadium, Ayers Rock and USS Kitty Hawk) as photo
features.
A special commemorative
postage stamp was released. First day covers were flown on the aircraft
in both directions.
Budget
The AU$40,000 budget covered the cost of producing a brochure, website
design, displays, video and still photography, video link, archival footage,
backdrop, printing invitations/programs, commemorative stamp, giveaways
and all arrangements for the Media Day and VIP Day.
Results
and Evaluation
Media tracking and analysis began immediately. The Global Hawk media coverage
was the most extensive recorded by Defence for a comparable single special
event. Analysis revealed 154 positive items (one negative) in mainstream
media from February to June, equating to AU$558,122 in advertising spend.
Past research had identified mainstream media as the community's preferred
source of information about Defence.
There was also positive
coverage in some online publications and international media including
CNN, BBC, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Daily News, The Globe
and Mail, The London Times and the South China Morning Post.
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DSTO
scientist being interviewed for TV program.
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Compared with overall
DSTO media coverage in previous years, the Global Hawk campaign recorded
nearly 13 times the annual DSTO average in column centimetres; over 40
percent more coverage on radio; and 14% of the annual average TV exposure.
The campaign generated
445 items of positive coverage in all Australian media, 29% more than
the DSTO total annual average.
Analysis of the website
showed a very high volume of usage from around the world, including 70%
from the USA. The site recorded 1,667,904 successful hits from 9 April
to 30 June with 64,486 visits, averaging 764 visits per day. For this
period the number of page views recorded was 128,000 (or 42,666 per month),
i.e. 38 times higher than the international average benchmark* of 1109
per month. Average user session was 10:05 minutes, i.e. people were spending
nearly one third of their surfing time at the Global Hawk site.
*Source:
Nielsen/NetRatings Inc.
Reference
May 2001 Internet Usage Stats (www.nielsen-netratings.com)
Post
Script
On
26 June, the Minister for Defence announced that the Australian Government
was listing Global Hawk as an acquisition project in the Defence Capability
Plan 2001-2010, and would make a decision on purchase in 2004-2005.
Best
practice summary
Global Partnering The Australian and US communication team members
worked closely on planning. For two months before deployment, weekly teleconferences
were held with all key players to exchange ideas and fine tune activities.
Team members were based in different cities but the effort was well coordinated
with clearly defined roles for each member.
Good Communications
Planning The communications plan was produced and approved in good
time. A key part of the planning was the preparation to address a potential
crisis in the event of an accident, with sample media releases.
The Local Angle
Creating the link with the first trans-Pacific flight by an Australian
aviation pioneer to signify the historic nature of the Global Hawk crossing
captured the interest of the Australian public.
Scientists as Talent
Australian scientists (media-trained) were used as spokespersons to tell
the science story behind the deployment. So as not to overexpose them,
occasionally Air Force personnel from both Australia and USA fronted the
media.
Big Names for Big
Ticket Items Appropriate individuals (Chief of Air Force, Science
Policy Chief, Parliamentary Secretary, Minister for Defence) were reserved
for the important announcements to achieve the right profile and credibility.
They were also always given a photo opportunity - issue a commemorative
postage stamp, release an image, present a congratulatory plaque. They
were briefed and provided with the right tools - speeches or speech notes,
and Answers to likely Questions they might expect from the media.
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USS
Kitty Hawk image taken by Global Hawk.
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Make It Easy for
the Media Not only were media provided with news releases and background
information but also broadcast quality vision and high resolution photos.
Video files and audio grabs were posted on the website for journalists
to download. They were given access to the aircraft to film or photograph
at close quarters as well as opportunities to interview key players.
Flag the Media
Early The team approached the media months in advance to raise interest
and to enable them to prepare and then schedule their stories in time.
Get the Website
Right Information was constantly refreshed with news releases, transcripts
of media coverage and new images captured by Global Hawk.
Contact
Jimmy
Hafesjee
Defence Science Communications
Department of Defence
Level 6
Canberra, ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA
Tel. +(612) 6265 7928. jimmy.hafesjee@cbr.defence.gov.au
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Created: 3/28/02
Last modified: 8/17/02
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
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